Stray Bullet
by setyourgoals
Summary: [AU] What if Orochimaru missed? Instead of Sasuke, Naruto was the one that recieved the Cursed Seal. The consequences of this one action stands to change the fate of Naruto, as his life makes a drastic change. Warning : Not for AntiSasuke fans. Seriously.
1. Am I Evil?

**Stray Bullet  
Prologue**

_It missed... A stray bullet... Calculations were perfect... Aim was on target... And yet, in all of the planning, constructing and deconstructing, one thing was not accounted for... Human nature... The ability to change the path of the future with one single action._

"Bastard..." Uzumaki Naruto growled through his teeth. He could feel it rushing through him. Power entered through his neck, spreading like a virus, tainting his body, blood and chakra. The forest and all that was around him slowly drifted away as his grin was replaced with an expressionless face. His body reacted by freezing itself to an absolute still position.

It was like a mixture of all the pain and pleasure he had ever had in his life, multiplied by a thousand - and the pain was much more notable. He suddenly grinned, as his attacker backed off, confusion in his eyes. He looked behind him to see his teammate and number one rival, Uchiha Sasuke, staring right back at him.

"Are you injured? Scaredy-cat" He managed to gather enough energy to say, as he breathed deeply, still frozen even after the snake-bastards neck had retracted.

"I missed?" Orochimaru, looking over to the bite he placed on the blonde's neck scowled, apparently there was more to the fox child than he originall thought. The bite had left a tattoo-like mark, shaped like a shuriken. Orochimaru was intent on originally biting Sasuke, after already sealing the Kyuubi inside Naruto, and tossing him away. But of course Naruto was the last person to back down when his friends were in danger, standing in the way of the attack, somewhat altering what seemed to be a certain future.

"Believe it." With the last of his dwindling energy, Naruto spoke as he collapsed into Sasuke's arms. Sasuke was left alone and scared, once again, recounting what had happened, from the time Orochimaru defeated Naruto and tossed him away, to the time when he was stopped, frozen in place by his killing intent. And now, just when he was about to attack the Uchiha heir Naruto once again foolishly stepped in the way, saving Sasuke, thus humiliating him once again.

"This seems problematic..." Orochimaru said, eyes darting, contemplating his next move. "I can't risk going for another attack, I can already sense them coming..."

"Stop right there!" Orochimaru grinned, his prediction fullfilled as a woman landed on a tree branch away from him. "I wouldn't move if I was you!" She watched as the face of the grass nin melted off, revealing the deformed human Orochimaru truly was.

"We both know you won't be able to catch me Anko." He grinned as he jumped forward, from branch to branch, fleeing from her.

Anko pursued Orochimaru, knowing very well that she most likely wouldn't be able to stop him without getting killed herself. She jumped forward, catching up to her former mentor. Using a quick jutsu her arm turned into a snake as she went to attack Orochimaru.

"Pathetic." Orochimaru spat, grabbing the snake-arm and using her momentum to throw her into another tree. "Using an opponents own moves against him? Are you still angry at me for leaving you Anko?" Anko spat out blood as she stood up, pulling the finger in his direction.

"Are you still disappointed that I left you?" She shot back, throwing another kunai at him. As he dodged she charged again, throwing him back into another tree, before proceeding to unleash a flurry of punches onto his body. She pounded him into the tree behind them, and trapped him against the trunk while pulling out a kunai. "I'm going to borrow this hand, if you don't mind." She grabbed his left hand with her right, and stabbed a kunai through both their hands and into the tree behind them, forming a hand seal.

"Are you really prepared to use that seal to kill us both?" Orochimaru grinned back at Anko, angering her further. His face brought back more painful memories, as she begun to use the jutsu, but Orochimaru's face quickly turned into a twisted smile. "I could let you kill yourself now but I'd rather be more forgiving." Orochimaru disappeared in smoke, leaving Anko's hand stuck into the tree.

"A Kage Bunshin?" Anko growled.

"Yes. Your effort was to no avail." He cackled, spinning a kunai in his hand. "I think you might be interested in knowing that I just gave another person a cursed seal. I picked it out especially for him."

"You seem disappointed? Was he one of the unlucky 1 out of 10?"

"I'm happy you noticed. But for your information, he did live." Orochimaru said, she knew him enough to know when he was disappointed, and when he was happy. "He survived, like you. But I see you're still jealous."

"But you missed. You old fool." Anko confirmed her suspicions. "So your objective failed. Go back to your hiding spot and rot there like you're supposed to!" She removed the kunai painfully as she prepared to launch another attack on her former mentor.

"Funnily enough, things might go better than planned. And you know how eager I can get." Orochimaru laughed as he disappeared, leaving Anko in pain as he activated her cursed seal, triggering a reaction in her body.

- -

"Once again, I failed."

- -

Things were not going as planned for Sakura. First she was attacked by the Sound Three. And then she had to be saved by Rock Lee. She wasn't able to protect herself even then. Even when she had a chance to prove herself she was once again saved by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. And now, something else was going wrong. Naruto was awake, and he didn't look like the Naruto she and Sasuke knew. The person who had been called "dead-last" was now all that stood between the Sound Trio and the battered Team 7.

"You injured my teammates..." A voice said from behind Sakura, gaining the full attention of the Sound Trio.

"That's Naruto?" Shikamaru looked at the change in him, both in the way he spoke and looked. "Ino! Get out of there!" He yelled, picking up Ino's body, as her spirit jumped out of Kin's body.

"It was you wasn't it?" Naruto rose up in his full glory, black tattoos moving around his body. The tattoos were shaped like fangs, moving in sync with the red and purple chakra that circle around his body, as his eyes turned a dark red colour. "But right now I have all this power, and I'm feeling like taking some vengeance. Sakura!" Naruto turned to his comrade, grinning maniacally. "Was he the one who attacked you?" Naruto grinned as she gave a feeble nod. He charged straight at Zaku, punching him in the chest.

"His chakra increased massively..." Dosu said, immediately trying to reach his injured teammate.

"Not a chance..." Naruto appeared behind Dosu, grabbing him and tossing him to the ground.

"Don't let your guard down in front of me!" Zaku yelled out, as he aimed at Naruto. "Ultimate Zankuha!" Naruto turned around to see the blast of air surge in his way.

"Got you." Zaku grinned, as he breathed heavily, that attack was the most destructive one he had in his arsenal.

"Got who?" Naruto said from behind Zaku as he kicked him into the ground. Zaku looked at the spot in which he aimed the attack and found Dosu lying on the ground, injured. Before he could get up Naruto's foot was already on his back, pushing him back down every time he tried to recover. He took his foot off as Zaku got up, and attempted to attack Naruto for a second time.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto was too quick for Zaku, his clones slashing Zaku with kunais as they sprinted past. Naruto walked up to the scarred body that laid on the ground. Driven by his rage, Naruto lifted the injured Sound nin up and proceeded to punch his chest. The others around him tried to turn away and ignore Zaku's screams of pain. Naruto drew back his fist, preparing for a final strike. He spoke the words that had haunted him all his life. "You disappoint me."

"Naruto! Stop!" Naruto prepared to strike, though he was stopped as he felt a sudden warmth wrapping around him. "Please stop!" He could feel a body pressing against his, calming him down. He dropped Zaku, as the tattoos retreated, and his eyes turned to its normal colour. Naruto turned around and looked to see who was wrapped around him.

"Ino?"


	2. The Unforgiven

Candles flickered, lighting the room and supplying little warmth to the blonde boy. Sitting unconciously on the cold cement floor he was surrounded, by the circles of candles and calligraphy. None of these affected him, he was far gone in another place, lost in his dreams - made unconcious from a certain jutsu. Lines were painted onto the ground, various Kanji characters, leading from each of the candles, all the way to Naruto's body, up his skin and onto the right side of his neck, onto his cursed seal.

Admiring his work, Kakashi proceeded to stand over Naruto's body, and placed a hand over the cursed seal. Reciting the seals, and instructions he began to grip his neck harder before saying the sealing jutsu.

"Fūja Hōin! (Evil Sealing)" The jutsu activated almost immediately, as the Kanji that Kakashi had drawn around Naruto's body begun moving like a snake, into the cursed seal, where it seamingly disappeared. Only after the Kanji characters disappeared did a black circle form around the cursed seal, glowing a flaming red colour - causing Naruto's body to shake greatly.

- -

In Naruto's mind various things were playing out. Instead of one body forced into a calm state of rest, two bodies were. The first being the owner of the body - Naruto, and the second being the prisoner inside the body - the demon Kyuubi.

"So we meet..." The Kyuubi bared its giant teeth from inside its cage.

"I guess so." Naruto said, as he sat down on nothingness, folding his legs. "You're the source of all my problems? The all-powerful demon everybody is afraid of?" Naruto teased.

"You're the all-powerful jailer? I'm guessing you came here to trade bodies." The Kyuubi cackled.

"Aren't you going to try and attack me? Jump out from that cage and eat me?" Naruto laughed. "Or is your strength just an urban legend?"

"I've been trying to for the last 13 years, but it seems that Hokage managed to box me in here pretty well..." The Kyuubi growled, to lazy to get up. The first five years for his imprisonment was trying to break out, but it always came to no use, only tiring him more and occasionally giving the boy a boost in chakra. Looking back at Naruto he began to wonder why he was here. "Exactly what are you doing?" The Kyuubi asked from behind bars, slightly humoured at the cross-legged boy.

"Meditating." He replied, clenching his eyes together even tighter. A long, awkward silence followed before Kyuubi decided to break the ice.

"Is it working?" He cursed himself for asking the question. It not only sounded stupid, but for Kyuubi - it was out of his usual demonic character.

"It isn't now." Naruto opened one eye. "Kakashi-sensei said it would help if I meditated, to help me through some sort of pain or something. I don't know what he's talking about because I feel fine."

"3..." Kyuubi began his countdown, predicting what was about to happen. "You just had to taint your chakra further didn't you?"

"3? What is this a countdown or something?" Naruto got up, looking around.

"2..." Kyuubi sighed. "Of course it is a countdown! Now if I was you I would sit down and meditate like your damn sensei told you to!"

"What do you mean? Nothings happening!" Naruto yelled back.

"1..." Kyuubi stared at Naruto. "Close your eyes gentleman, this may hurt."

"WHAT?!"

Kyuubi was right. It did.

- -

After shaking violently, Naruto's body collapsed and fell onto the floor. Kakashi was left standing, collecting himself as he wiped the sweat of his forehead, breathing deeply. For him, it actually went better than expected - the Kyuubi must have been able to reduce the pain - one of the advantages and disadvantages of having the demon. The demon's chakra made it harder to seal, and more difficult for Naruto to handle, so he decided to put him in a temporary unconciousness.

"So you can even use sealing jutsu now..." A voice said from behind Kakashi. "You've grown."

"What are you doing here Orochimaru?" Kakashi stared into the eyes of the former Konoha shinobi. "You're just asking to be killed."

"So nice to see that you missed me." Orochimaru grinned back, he was dressed in what seemed to be his former Jounin uniform, with the sound headband around his head.

"You're after Naruto, aren't you?" Kakashi assumed attacking position in front of Naruto, ready to make a move if Orochimaru did.

"Very perceptive of you. Yes, the Kyuubi is one of the things I hope to possess." Orochimaru dared to take a step forward, causing Kakashi to alter his stance. "But unlike you, some of us weren't as lucky to get our hands on the Sharingan!"

"Never knew you were starting a collection, going after Sasuke as well." Kakashi stared into the eyes of the snake-like nin. "Would I be pushing it if I was to guess you were also after Sakura aswell? Three's a lucky charm you know." Kakashi laughed to himself, trying to cure his current nervousness in this confrontation.

"Sakura? So that's the girls name. No. She lacks what the two boys have. The Village of Sound has no use for her. Did I just give away to much?" Orochimaru laughed. "I guess you could already assume what I plan to do." Another step forward as Kakashi widened his stance. "I just need more pieces of the puzzle."

"So Naruto and Sasuke... They're just pieces?" Kakashi asked. "To you, that may be all they are, but to me..."

"What? Replacements for your fallen comrades? Those Sound-nins. The ones that are fighting, and more that you probably haven't guessed yet. They're just pawns."

"If you get any closer... Even if you are a Sannin, I will kill you." Kakashi dropped his right hand, as it started glowing with lightning-chakra.

"Really? Everything you've done, is meaningless. Everything you're about to do will become meaningless, don't you understand Kakashi?" Orochimaru grinned, proceeding to take another step, as more chakra surged in Kakashi's hand. "The seal was also meaningless. No matter what you do, to achieve it's own purposes, a human is willing to accept power, wherever it may come from, and in whatever form. Sasuke wants power. Naruto needs someone to nurture his own. Naruto will eventually come to me. And then he will be instrumental in helping me gain the Sharingan."

"They will not become pawns in your twisted game..."

"Naruto will eventually seek me out... Both will..." Orochimaru grinned. "Especially with the Cursed Seal of Demons that I placed on Naruto. But for now, if you want to kill me - give it your best shot."

"Raikiri!" Kakashi yelled as he charged at Orochimaru, his headband lifted up - exposing the Sharingan. Orochimaru managed to dodge the attack, but Kakashi twisted and went to attack his chest. Orochimaru grabbed the arm holding the Raikiri, and managed to throw him back next to Naruto's unconcious body. Kakashi regained his composure, and once again assumed battle stance.

"Better luck next time." Orochimaru grinned, as he disappeared.

"Fool..." Kakashi said to himself. "I was stupid enough to try and compete with that monster..."

- -

"Ino..."A voice said from behind the blonde haired girl, who was currently psyching herself up for the next match.

"Naruto! Don't scare me like that next time!" She yelled, turning around to face Naruto. He looked different somehow. He wore a simple black shirt, with orange pants, clearly exhausted from whatever he had been doing. Ino on the other hand was dressed in her normal purple uniform. As both stared at each other, a silence followed, both being careful about what was to be said next.

"In the Forest of Death..." Naruto began, to which Ino nodded.

"I know Naruto."

"Thank you." Ino froze in her place, stunned by Naruto's last comment. Was the loudmouthed, hyperactive ninja actually being polite? And shy? To her?

"You're welcome?" She replied feebly.

"Good luck." That was all either of them had to say to each other, as both were lost for words in the awkwardness of the moment. Naruto walked one step closer. Shaking, he stretched out one hand to brush her face, moving hair from her cheek to their normal resting place. And then the warmth returned again.

"Ino? You're up." Shikamaru appeared from behind the door to the room. "I interrupted something didn't I?" He looked towards the hugging shinobi.

"Uh no!" Both yelled, a bit overexaggeratedly and loudly, as they jumped back at least two meters each.

"Whatever..." Shikamaru left the two to their awkwardness, once again.

"I guess we better go..." Ino said, as Naruto nodded, and he proceeded to leave the room, before stopping at the door.

"You know, you're a really nice person - _when_ you're not fawning over Sasuke." And then he left. He never even gave Ino a change to reply, or even to wonder what he was doing in the women's bathroom in the first place.

- -

The fight had been even. Both girls laid unconcious on the floor after a well planned attack from Ino. She had cut off her hair to make a connection between her and Sakura, and follwed with a Shintenshin No Jutsu, which Sakura had been unable to dodge. The fight had then resulted to a battle in Sakura's mind, as her innerself managed to force Ino's subconcious out, and now both were down for the count, given 10 seconds to rise.

Naruto on the other hand had went crazy.

"C'mon! Get out of bed already! Get up and fight!" Naruto yelled loudly, flailing his arms wildly.

"Gai-sensei? Are we witnessing the flower of youth?" Lee asked his sensei, confused about what the boy was doing.

"I'm not really sure... But I guess we can assume so..." Gai said, rather more quieter than he usually was.

"Of course! Gai-sensei always makes the right decision!" He activated his nice guy pose, as his teeth shined brightly under the lights.

Naruto was still crazy. And confused.

"Naruto? Who exactly are you cheering for?" Sasuke asked, eyeing his blonde comrade.

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto asked, as he turned back to his yelling.

"No." Sasuke replied.

Ino on the other hand was screwed. She had been kicked out of Sakura's mind, and all she had to do was get back to her body to win. The problem was, she wasn't sure she knew where her body was, if she had enough chakra, and she didn't really have much time.

"Have I lost?" Ino said, as she frantically searched for her body. She was trapped somewhere between Sakura's and her own. Carefully following the trail of hairs she had cut out, she managed to make her way back to her own body, her conciousness returning.

"2..." Gekko Hayate counted, before spotting movement in one of the girls.

"The winner of this match is..." Hayate cleared his throat before continuing. "Yamanaka Ino!" The crowd clapped, with entusiastic cheers from Naruto.

"YES!" A loud voice could be hear cheering from the balcony where the other competitors and their sensei's were.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, gaining the attention of the blonde. "I think you're cheering for the wrong team."

"Oh right... Go Sakura?" He said feebly, as Sasuke just shook his head in embarassment. "What? What's wrong with you?"

"I won my match by the way." Sasuke said, sounding offended.

"Oh." Naruto grinned. "Congratulations?"

"So now you care." Sasuke rolled his eyes in response.

"You're sounding more like a girl everyday." Naruto smirked, playfully punching Sasuke. "How did your match and the others go?"

"I obliterated him." Naruto pulled a face of disbelief, to which he just nodded. "He was too close-combat. As soon as he took a step forward I just destroyed him with my fire jutsu. Easy victory."

"Overconfident ass..."

"Shino defeated the Sound shinobi, apparently he has bugs running through his body." Sasuke shrugged it off, as if it was an everyday thing. "One of the sand trio got through as well, used some sort of puppet trick. And here we are now, after Sakura's battle. I'm sure she'll be happy to know which one of us _wasn't_ cheering for her." A cynical grin followed the calm tone of voice from Sasuke.

"You wouldn't dare..." Naruto locked eyes with his teammate. Until suddenly, his name was called out.

"The next match is Inzuka Kiba vs... Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate cleared his throat loudly before coughing.

"I'll deal with you later..." Naruto jumped down onto the ground, to face Kiba and his dog. "Perfect chance to show off my new move..." Naruto grinned.

"New move?" Kiba grinned in response. "This will be easy..."

* * *

**A/N**: Late, yeah I know. Been busy and such. I left this chapter at the beginning of the Naruto/Kiba fight because you all know how that ends. I didn't really like this chapter, mainly because it was full of filler stuff, and stuff most peopple already know. But starting from next chapter, things are going to change from the original storyline.

Starting from next Chapter is where the real fun for me starts, firstly - who trains Naruto if Ebisu is not going to? And also, what happens between him and Ino? And Sasuke will also recieve a surprise sensei... The main reason I couldn't update was because I had no idea where this story was going, but now that I do, things will go much quicker than the past chapters.

Tell me what you think, what you think should happen, if you like the Naruto/Ino pairing or not, and if you think its terrible flame me - I know an awesome water jutsu.


	3. Fight Fire With Fire

The ten genins were stressed. Most were battered and bruised, few were even unscathed, Naruto on the other hand was borderline dead. Suffering from the after effects of double sealing jutsus, from both Orochimaru and Kakashi, he was forced to fight Kiba with limited amount of chakra. He barely managed to pull through with his new "Naruto Rendan" combo, and even after that something in him forced him to want to challenge Neji to a fight.

And still, Neji was able to hold a calm expression on his face, as if he didn't just recently mercilessly beat his cousin. But the more he thought about it, Naruto was the only one who dared show expression on his face. Everyone was serious – Sasuke was in deep concentration, Gaara of course was emotionless, but even Shikamaru was listening.

"I hope all of you are listening to the final instructions." The Hokage said rather sternly, as Naruto woke up from his daydream. "As I previously said, one month will be given, to improve yourself, and analyze what you have learnt from your competitors up until now. From now on, there is no holding back."

"Could each of you step out and draw a number from this bag." It was Anko's turn to speak, as she held a bag in front, and gave it out to each of the genins that had proceeded to the final stage of the exam.

"What are these for?" Kankuro asked, as he drew a number. The Hokage waited till everyone was finished before he announced the reasons behind the numbers.

"The final exams will involve one on one matches." The Hokage cleared his throat. "The number you have picked determines your opponents. We'll need each of you to read out your number."

Morino Ibiki wrote down on his board, as each of the genin read out the number, looking over with a slight smile at what had been written down.

"The following matches will be held as of one month from today." Ibiki stated. " Nara Shikamaru against Sabaku No Temari, Dosu Kinuta against Uchiha Sasuke, Sabaku No Kankuro against Aburame Shino..." Naruto cringed his face in anticipation, there were only three people left to face, and he didn't know if he wanted to fight any of them. "Uzumaki Naruto against..." Naruto jumped up as his name was called out. "Hyuuga Neji." That left two people, and it didn't sound very promising.

"So," The Hokage interrupted. "That leaves Sabaku No Gaara to face Yamanaka Ino." A cruel grin appeared on Gaara's face, as Ino remained frozen in shock.

"It'll be alright." Ino suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She hated it when that happened. Mostly everyone did, whenever Naruto went out of character, it usually meant something else was going on under that childish exterior of his. "Because together we'll kick ass!" Then again, you never know whether there was really a "serious Naruto".

"You are all dismissed!" The Hokage said, as Naruto tried to further his conversation with Ino.

"Naruto, there is no time for a casual conversation." Kakashi said, as he poofed behind the loud blonde. "If you would excuse us please, Miss Yamanaka." Kakashi said politely, as Ino walked off with Shikamaru, and Sasuke joined the conversation with Kakashi.

"I assume you are going to train him, aren't you?" This comment came not from Naruto, but rather Sasuke.

"It sounds worse when you put it like that." Kakashi shrugged. "But yes, because of the special circumstances I am left with no choice but to train Naruto myself. Do not worry though, Sasuke - I have found a special trainer for you." Sasuke's ears perked, at the prospect of someone who could teach him something different.

"You have truly blessed me with training someone as gifted as Sasuke!" The sight of a man in black spandex was not as promising as expected. "My name is Ebisu, and by the end of the next month, you'll be a powerful shinobi!"

"Be careful..." Naruto quietly whispered in Sasuke's ear. "He's a closet pervert..."

- -

_One Week Later..._

"48... 49..." Naruto breathed heavily as he continued doing the push-ups. Normally 50 push-ups would be easy for the hyperactive Naruto, but Kakashi wasn't an easy trainer, as he had been constantly repeating. And there was the fact that these weren't land based pushups - he was doing it on water. Kakashi had greatly improved Naruto's chakra control, all the while teaching him basic, but effective jutsus. "50..."

"Do it again." Kakashi said, reading his book while he sat under a nearby tree, next to the lake. Naruto collapsed into the water.

"What?!" Naruto yelled, as he pulled himself out of the water and prepared to do another set of 50 push-ups.

"Do it again." Kakashi said, as Naruto angrily began his count. "Faster." Kakashi, said, as Naruto picked up speed. "Faster. Harder." The calls continued, as Naruto tried his best to do as instructed.

"I'm doing it as fast and hard as I can!"

"Oh yeah, that hit the spot." Kakashi said, as the shocked Naruto once again collapsed into the water. "Why are you still doing push-ups? I thought I told you to stop half an hour ago."

"But you told me to do it again!" Kakashi shook his head in response. "You told me to go faster and harder! And I did!"

"Did I?" Kakashi laughed to himself. "Sorry, I tend to read aloud sometimes." Naruto knew that all too well. They trained and camped out in the middle of a forest on the border of Konoha, and it was frequent for Kakashi to read aloud the more "adult" scenes of his books while the scared Naruto lay on his bed with his eyes wide open. "I think its time to practice your use of Taijutsu again. Come and get your lunch." Kakashi grinned under his mask, holding a packet of instant ramen. Naruto climbed out of the lake, cracking his knuckles as he prepared to claim his prize.

"I'll definitely get it this time." Naruto yelled, as he charged at Kakashi. Kunais flew in his direction, as he easily dodged it. He failed to notice the trip wire as more kunai dropped on him from above. Naruto disappeared in a poof, what was though to be his original body was just a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone). Naruto neared Kakashi and went for the grab, but found in his hand a rock instead - a quick Kawarimi (Body Swap) jutsu. A kick was followed by Kakashi, but his foot instead made contact with the same rock - Naruto used the same Kawarimi jutsu on Kakashi. Naruto crouched on the ground, gaining distance from Kakashi's current position.

"Shunshin No Jutsu! (Body Flicker Technique)" The untraceable move had been executed as Naruto had practiced a thousand times, the right amount of his own chakra surged through his feet and launched him into the sky faster than the eye could catch. A second Shunshin in mid-air propelled him back to Kakashi, who wasn't quick enough to get the instant ramen stolen from him.

"Congratulations in succeeding Naruto." Kakashi applauded as he walked behind the hungry genin. "But I have some constructive criticism to help you with."

"Please explain." Naruto said, words muffled by the ramen in his mouth.

"Remember what I said in our first test? Never let an opponent get behind you. You deserve this!" Following, Naruto felt a thousand years of pain as he flew into the sky and landed hard on his ass.

"Damn that hurt." Naruto rubbed his sore bottom, where Kakashi's fingers had previously been.

"I think you're ready." Kakashi smiled as he watched Naruto get up. "I found a technique that would help use your excessive amount of chakra."

"Really?"

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu." Kakashi threw a copy of Icha Icha Paradise at Naruto. "But first, read this book."

- -

"Dammit!" Sasuke yelled as he smashed the balloon into the ground. Never had he been so frustrated in his life. He was faced with the task of popping the balloons with his chakra only, but they resembled the hurdle he just couldn't get over. He pumped the next balloon with anger fuelled chakra, more and more until finally - release. After six long days, day and night, of just trying to pop the damn balloons he finally succeeded. Extreme emotion was the key.

"Oh so you're done already?" The grey haired man grinned. He reminded Sasuke of an older, much more perverted version of Naruto, but he truly was a powerful man – considered legendary by Konoha. Sasuke could still remember when he was going through the boring exercises with Ebisu, who foolishly tried to stop the man from spying on bathing women. Ebisu was placed in hospital, all because the man had squashed him with a frog. "So does the great Sannin's training method work?"

"It pissed me off." Sasuke said, right after grinning. "But yes, it did work - Jiraiya."

"You're chakra control allowed you to get it done well before I thought you would. I guess it is kind of fun to teach geniuses once in a while." Jiraiya smiled, as he put a hand on Sasuke's head and messed his hair - something Sasuke surprisingly allowed. "So do you understand why I'm teaching you this now?"

"So you can occupy me while you go out looking for desperate women willing to do anything for money?" Sasuke responded with a smirk.

"I take back my statement about geniuses."

"Improve my chakra control?" Sasuke changed his answer, hoping to win over his sensei.

"You're chakra control is already good as it is, and doesn't need much working on - as you can already do most basic jutsus, and the more powerful fire jutsus as well." Jiraiya explained. "I'm intending you of teaching a jutsu called the Rasengan – a jutsu created by the Fourth Hokage. Rasengan was based on the simple method of a constant spinning ball of pure chakra, capable of ripping through even the toughest substances. For example." Chakra gathered in Jiraiya's right hand, little by little, slowly forming a mini-tornado, constantly spinning. Finally it reached an incredible rate, forming a ball of pure chakra as Jiraiya stated. Using it, he pushed the ball of chakra through a nearby tree - going right through it.

"That's the Rasengan?" Jiraiya was happy to leave a good impression on his student, as he stared at the demolished tree.

"When used on an opponent, it has the potential to cause internal damage. When the Rasengan is created, no further chakra is needed - thus making it limitless. If I was to release all the chakra on the tree, instead of just grinding it through, I probably would've created an explosion of chakra causing about the same amount of damage - just more messy."

"So am I done learning it?" Sasuke asked, eager to obtain he powerful jutsu that might further him to defeating his brother, giving Sasuke the power boost he needed.

"There are two more steps you must complete." Jiraiya grinned, as he dropped a bag of rubber balls in front of Sasuke. "Pop these first, and then we'll talk. But for now, as you put it - I'm going to go look for "desperate" women." Sasuke sighed, as he began taking on the task in front of him.

* * *

**A/N **: Can someone say, super speedy update? Don't expect other chaps to come as quick as this, you all know how long it took to do the second chapter.

This one was shorter than usual and a little boring in my opinion. I'll pick up on things next chapter – the NaruIno relationship, the ending of their training, and the first matches – I'll probably just cover Naruto's and some of Sasuke's. Have you ever heard of the saying that "some things were just meant to happen."? Well in Ino's case, her chances of becoming a Chunin this time around are very slim. Though more than one person will become a Chunin this time around – and yes, one of them will be Shikamaru.

Ask me anything, did my grammar improve this time around? I'm gonna go back on chapter 2 to redo it now, so that's about it from me.

Replies to reviews...

BakaHammerGirl - cheers for your review, and yes I agree - there are more than enough already.  
IQOD (You mind if I call you that?) - Thanks for your advice, I'd take that into stride. I'm trying to keep Naruto as in character as possible, so I don't make him over powered, or beyond what he should be at his age - emotionally, mentally, physically etc. For example, I'm not going to make him the strong, serious, smart guy that he usually isn't. I'll check my grammatical errors, as I'm a lazy writer, who writes the chapter according to plan, briefly speed-reads and then proceeds to post. I'll be more careful next time.  
Alahee4Life - Yes! I did update it! I'll go back later and fix the grammar. I'm going to try make it NaruIno, because NaruHarem is a bit OOC on both sides, eg. for Naruto to suddenly go for all the women, or for all the women to randomly start noticing Naruto. I liked the NaruIno idea anyway, because I usually didn't read romance fics until I read "You Owe Me" by Lolligaggin.  
redrose640 - A magician never reveals his tricks... or a ninja and his jutsu for that matter. By odd, is that a good odd or bad odd?


	4. No Leaf Clover

**A/N** : Two super speedy updates in a row? What's going on here?... but first...

I'm going to reply to the reviews here, since quite a bit of questions and feedback was given to the last chapter. Before I started, I'm kind of strangely pleased with the reaction I've gotten. Rather than the usual "Please Update Soon" I got some great criticism. And I've almost been given a chance to use my awesome water jutsu. Now to begin the replies, once again, thanks for the reviews.

broken-horn : Not now at least, it would be a little overload to teach Naruto two powerful jutsus now. He might later on though.  
S2219 : That's a great question. Number of reasons would be shown in this chapter, as well as in this reply. Maybe Jiraiya just sees this as a chance to redeem his failure with Orochimaru by helping Sasuke become a good guy? Maybe. I don't like to display favoritism in characters, though I will admit I like Naruto more than Sasuke. Nice to see you want me to update soon though :D  
Parselmaster : Yeah, I've read the latest chapters as well. When writing AU fanfiction, basically it's your Alternative Universe :D. That's probably the best reasoning I can give. How sad of me. Now that you've mentioned it, I've made plans to explain it further on in the story - and it gave me a pretty good idea. Cheers for the review.  
Ovan the Rebirth : The above reply, and this chapter explains the basics behind it. It has been proven that Sasuke has better control of chakra and basics, even if he does not have the big chakra pools like Naruto. In my opinion, as a ninja you must work on what you're best at. Sasuke is the better at chakra control and speed, though he has less chakra - so Rasengan would be a good option, as it requires all 3, and doesn't need that much chakra. Naruto on the other hand is able to release big bursts of chakra - so Kuchiyose would be a good option for him. In my opinion, since Chidori requires more chakra (Sasuke was only able to use it 3 times a day at around this time), Rasengan would be more suited. But if you feel that way of the Sasuke/Rasengan combination, we'll be able to see what would happen if he used it in the next couple of chapters.  
Alahee4life - Made my day :D. Thanks, criticism is what makes us better. Chances of Naruto being taught by Jiraiya are low, but Jiraiya will have talks to Naruto through the story.  
Talon Phoenix : Naruto summons dogs. I'm probably going to make him summon a boss dog for the Gaara fight.  
faern : I'm sorry you feel that way. I didn't just change the names, in my opinion, reading the manga and watching the anime - Kakashi's a better teacher than Jiraiya. Why is Sasuke getting the Rasengan? Why not? 3 good reasons please. Besides - Because he's Sasucegay! Heh... Saucegay...  
nathaniel smith : Sure it would, but wouldn't it be more fun if Naruto made his own jutsu to combat it? C'mon, Chidori can't be the only jutsu that can match Rasengan, there's probably loads of others. Do you get what I'm implying?  
3lildee - I liked you on the first date, but now you'rE just boring. Ever heard that before? Anyway, small changes (Naruto getting the Cursed Seal, changes in those being trained), result in big plot changes. Things like - Naruto getting with Ino, Someone else drifting to Orochimaru's side, more character deaths and a different Valley of the End fight. I solemly swear, that from here on in, things are going to be different. Is that good enough?  
K. Reikochan - Hey, at least you said it was good and favorited it. That's alright with me. Am I planning to let Sasuke learn the Rasengan, yes. But remember this - No 1. The anime/manga isn't called "Sasuke". and No 2. This fanfic isn't about "Sasuke". It's all about Naruto.

I want to pose a question. Do you all think that Naruto should become super-powerful like in all those other "creative fics"?  
That's not very creative to me. This fic is more about Character Growth than anything, the little things is what changes it. I hope I've answered your questions well enough. If you wanna ask more, talk about it over, possibly have an argument that would put Naruto and Sasuke in shame - review me, message me, ask to talk to me. I don't mind. This story is puting me in doubts. I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter, but I guess your reviews will tell me.

And enough with the A/N **on with the story...**

* * *

"Takako! Don't leave I love you!" Naruto yelled out loudly in a manly voice, before changing to a high-pitched squeal. "But I have to! Because..." His voice went lower, and he pretended to take off a false mask. "I'M A MAN!" The crowd of Ninken (Ninja Dogs), erupted in applause and barks of happiness, as Naruto bowed to his audience.

"Well done Naruto." Kakashi grinned.

"Two days left of training, and I'm reading adult novels to a group of dogs." Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head. It was a good break from the usual training Kakashi had Naruto doing, usually involving chakra exercises, Taijutsu spars and summoning the Ninken.

"That's how I got them to be my summons in the first place." Kakashi sighed, turning back to his own book. "I remember as a child, reading this to them."

"No wonder you're so mentally scarred..." Naruto muttered to himself. "Isn't that right Naruken?" Naruto rubbed the head of the large black dog next to him. It wore a blue t-shirt on its back, with a Uzumaki swirl, it had become his first summon, along with Kakashi's group of Ninken.

"Naruto, I've taught you as much as I could in this space of time, and I think I've given you all the skills necessary to pass the next exam." Naruto nodded as he listened to his sensei. "I want you to remember one thing. When Orochimaru sealed the Kyuubi chakra it was seemingly closed off, right?"

"Yeah, I've been relying on my own chakra for the past couple of weeks."

"The Cursed Seal provides a sort of secret passage into the Chakra Banks of the Kyuubi." Kakashi said in the simplest form possible, to make sure Naruto understood. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm allowing you to use your Cursed Seal to draw out the extra needed if the time ever comes. But - I want you to take control of yourself. I've taught you these techniques so you can protect your friends, and that's what the extra Chakra should be used for. Understand?"

"Yes." Naruto tried to take in as much as possible.

"Then lets use these two days to our advantage as much as possible. Ninken! Attack!" The group of dogs leapt at Naruto, who immediately created several Kage Bunshin to protect himself.

- -

"Why are you training me?" There were few moments when Sasuke and Jiraiya had actual conversations, as most of them involved training. The two of them sat in a cafe inside Konoha, as they had completed their training.

"I was actually wondering when you'd ask me that." Jiraiya said, as Sasuke just waited for a response. "What have I taught you over this month?"

"I've improved my speed, and learnt the Rasengan." Sasuke replied. "Among other things, such as fire jutsu and the like."

"And now you're asking me why?" Sasuke nodded in response. "The Third Hokage was my Jounin sensei." It was a fact Sasuke already knew, though he didn't stop Jiraiya from continuing his story. "My teammates were the other legendary Sannin, Tsunade and Orochimaru. I believe you already met Orochimaru. He was a lot like you - a promising Shinobi, had some very powerful jutsu at his disposal - and he was a genius."

"What happened?"

"His thirst for power drove him over the edge. They called him a genius, brilliant and promising. He experimented on himself and others in search of immortality. When he wasn't selected to become Hokage he was changed. He was still a genius, but they called him other things - psychotic, insane and a murderer. I tried to bring him back, but he fled once again in the name of power." Jiraiya said. "Sasuke, I'm trying to tell you this; You don't have to sell your soul to become as powerful as you need. I remember someone once telling me that you'd become truly strong when you're protecting your friends. I believe that theory. Do you agree?"

"Yes..."

- -

For a person weighing such unpractical clothing, Dosu was pretty fast. Though even as quick as Dosu was, he barely was able to keep up with Sasuke.

"Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)" Sasuke jumped over Dosu, and in mid-air the fire balls launched from his mouth and onto the sound nin. Dosu rolled out of the attack, and managed to extinguish some of the flames with a sound attack from his arms. Dosu turned around, as Sasuke kicked him in the head, before laying a series of punches on the unsuspecting sound-nin. "Is that all?" Sasuke mocked, as Dosu got up.

"Watch your mouth!" Dosu yelled, as he clumsily tried to punch Sasuke, who easily dodged and place an uppercut in Dosu's stomach. To further propel him in the air, Sasuke kicked him in the jaw, and used his chakra to launch himself to the same height as Dosu.

"I'm going to tell you - this is going to hurt." Sasuke grinned, as Dosu tried to twist in mid-air to punch Sasuke, but all he found was another series of punches launching him higher. "That should be high enough to give me the time I need." Sasuke landed gracefully on the ground, as the crowd watched Dosu slowly fall. Chakra swirled in his hand, first slowly but quickly picking up speed before he formed a ball of pure chakra. The crowd couldn't tell what was going on in his hand, as Sasuke positioned himself under Dosu.

"Kyomeisen! (Vibrating Sound Drill)" The jutsu came not from Sasuke, but Dosu, as he fired a sound wave from his arm - directed at Sasuke's ears.

"Nozokimi no Jutsu! (Peeping Tom Technique)" Using Jiraiya's escape jutsu, Sasuke disappeared from sight, and reappeared behind the recently landed Dosu. "RASENGAN!" The ball of chakra grinded itself into Dosu's back, bringing him to the ground and possibly destroying his spine. "You were spineless to begin with."

The eruption of applause from the crowd was no match for the fangirl scream that came from Sakura, who yelled loudly for her teammate.

"The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!" Genma called, impressed at the results of the match.

- -

"The past matches have been impressive, Hokage-sama." The Chuunin examiners whispered to the Hokage in the stands, as he smiled in reply.

"Yes, our Genin have been doing well. Any recommendations for Chuunin so far?" The Hokage asked, as the Chuunin nodded.

"We've all agreed on Nara Shikamaru. He outsmarted Temari, and when it looked like he was too lazy to go on, he decided to finish the match and win anyway. Some of us have our doubts on Aburame Shino - Kankuro forfeited to him in the second round for unknown reasons. The past tests have shown Shino in good light though."

"And Sasuke?"

"The match shown was good to watch, he has improved greatly from the last test, and he seems ready to be promoted."

"What are your opinions on the next round... Specifically Uzumaki." The Hokage smiled, waiting for his answer. The arena was being prepared for the next match, and as Neji waited patiently in the middle, Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"Neji is a good candidate to become Chuunin, Naruto on the other hand is not. His past performances have been terrible - the only way for him to possibly become a Chuunin is to beat Neji, which seems unlikely. Gaara on the other hand is a clear favorite to defeat Ino." The Chuunin examiner finished his analysis, as another Chuunin approached the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama! Naruto is late, no one has seen him, or his sensei Kakashi." The Chuunin announced.

"Give him 10 minutes." The Hokage said. "He wouldn't miss this chance, at least I think."

- -

Neji was impatient. He gave a stern look to Genma, who ignored him completely. Everyone was wondering what was going on, why hadn't the #1 loudmouth ninja arrived yet? Surely he didn't want to miss something as important as this.

"Time to kick some ass!" The loud voice could be heard all over, as a puff of smoke appeared in the center of the arena. As the smoke cleared, it was revealed to be Uzumaki Naruto, wearing a torn black shirt, with an orange swirl on the back, and black pants. Kakashi, was standing right behind him, whispering something in his ear.

"Remember what I told you about the Cursed Seal. I've notified the Officials as to what to do if you go overboard with it." Naruto nodded, as Kakashi disappeared from behind him.

"Sorry for being late, Neji. We were doing some last minute training!" Naruto grinned, as Neji just shook his head in disapproval.

"Fate brought you here to be defeated. It's the only way for you to truly realize that I am the better of us." Neji announced, as Naruto pulled a tongue in his direction.

"So what?" Naruto grinned in response, as Neji was left without an answer.

"Byakugan!" His hands clasped together, as veins popped out of his eyes.

"I'll show you - destiny can be changed." Naruto assumed fighting stance, with the crowd anticipating the fight. "And I will become Hokage."

"Fool, close-combat is no use against me." Neji assumed his own stance, with his palms facing out.

"You speak crap." Naruto charged, aiming to punch Neji in the head. Neji dodged, and tried to block off a chakra point in his chest. Before his hand could reach Naruto, Naruto's foot covered the distance and kicked in the side.

"I guess I'll have to be more cautious this time." Neji said, as he changed his stance. "I'd be careful, if I was you."

"Sure thing." Naruto smiled, as he changed stances.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho! (Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)." Neji's palms went to strike Naruto's chest, both making contact, until Neji's eyes saw what he had hit.

"Kawarimi No Jutsu!" Naruto smiled, as Neji found crushed rock in his palms. "I'd be careful if I was you."

"Four hands!" Neji called, as two palms were blocked by Naruto, but the next two caught him off guard. Naruto may have been faster than Neji, but his reflexes weren't as honed as the Byakugan user.

"I have to get around your eyes!" Naruto said.

"Eight hands!" Neji called, Naruto dodged the first two, and managed to block the next. He whirled around Neji, but the Hyuuga was able to turn around in time to catch Naruto with another four palms.

'Not looking good...' Naruto thought to himself, as Neji began his sixteen palms.

"Kawarimi No Jutsu!" Naruto repeated, as the first of the sixteen palms was intercepted by a very sharp object. Neji was only able to stop himself just in time, as a small gash appeared on his hand, he had been marked by Naruto's Kunai. Naruto used the one second delay in Neji's attack to land a blow in his chest. Recovering quickly, Neji returned to his Hakke stance.

Unsurprisingly Neji once again began his 16 palms. His eyes led him to become more careful, as Naruto became better at intercepting his moves, but was still unable to land a blow on the Hyuuga. The 10th palm in succession was on its way, but Naruto dodged, before quickly doing some seals.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Technique)" Five clones surrounded the area in which they were fighting, but they made no move to attack Neji, instead just standing there.

"Your signature move... Why aren't they doing anything?" Neji asked, stopping his barrage of palms.

"Why don't you ask fate?" Naruto smiled, as he punched Neji in the face. As Neji lost balance, he found a Kage Bunshin pushing him back to Naruto, who followed with another punch in the chest.

"Left!" A Kage Bunshin called, as Naruto blocked a palm from the left of him, and elbowed Neji in the face. "Stomach!" Naruto punched forward, catching Neji before he could strike again.

"Neji, meet my own Byagukan. The total vision given by my clones." Naruto smiled, as Neji realized that he would have to destroy the Bunshin to win, but he couldn't turn his back on the real Naruto.

"32 hands!" Neji called, this time two clones joined Naruto, and they intercepted the palms, while the real Naruto tried to land as many blows as possible. Neji felt the pressure, as the rest of Naruto's clones began to attack. Three clones were quickly destroyed by Neji, but Naruto and the two other ones were handling him. Neither side was winning, as the clones made up for Naruto's lack of reflexes, allowing it to become an even match. All three Naruto's went for the final punch, but Neji was too quick for them.

"KAITEN!" Neji said, as he released his chakra, blowing away Naruto and destroying his clones.

"Perfect..." Naruto spat out, as he removed something from his pocket.

"I won?" Neji asked, breathing heavily as Naruto's unconscious body laid in front of him.

"It seems so..." Genma was about to announce the winner, but the clone disappeared, and the real Naruto appeared behind Neji.

"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga No Jutsu! (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique)." A scroll was in his hands, and blood from Naruto's mouth was smeared all over it. The eight Ninken jumped from the ground and trapped Neji, rendering him unable to move. "This is for blocking my chakra." Naruto drew back a punch, and in front of the whole crowd, landed it right into Neji's face. Neji's body collapsed to the ground as the Ninken disappeared, leaving Naruto unscathed - besides the blood coming from his mouth.

"Uzumaki Naruto wins!" Genma announced to the cheering crowd. Naruto stood over Neji's tired body.

"You quickly used a Kage Bunshin. Your main jutsu?" Neji asked, to which Naruto replied with a solemn look on his face. "I should've have expected that…"

"I failed the genin exam three times." Naruto said. "The test on the exam was always decided as my weakest Ninjutsu - the Bunshin No Jutsu." The surrounding people listened in to what he had to say, as Naruto continued his story. "Destiny can't be changed - what a load of crap. You have no right to say that, you were never a loser like me."

- -

The Hokage smiled at the results of the match. "It was good, wasn't it?" He said to a nearby Chuunin examiner who nodded.

"He overcame his weakness, analyzed his opponent well enough to find out how to defeat him, he even made his opponent drop his guard right before he humiliated him. The tactics, and the jutsu he used were clearly of a high standard." The Chuunin examiner said, as the Hokage nodded in approval.

"So, do any of you still have doubts about Naruto?" The Hokage asked, as they shook their heads. "Good."

- -

Ino was shivering. She was scared, and frightened. She barely managed to defeat the forehead-girl, and now she was place in a match with a monster.

"You're afraid." Gaara grinned cruelly. "But don't forfeit. That wouldn't be fun." Sand hovered eerily around Gaara, as Ino withdrew a kunai, in a vain attempt to find something to defend herself with.

"Ready?" Genma asked, more serious than usual. He didn't want to have to step in for the girl, and he definitely didn't want to get himself in a fight with Gaara. "May the match begin!"

The match was tense, Ino was too afraid to move, and Gaara was enjoying her fear while the match lasted. Ino threw the kunai at Gaara who, unsurprisingly, was instantly protected by a sand barrier. She tried to circle around his sand defense and throw more kunai in his direction - to little avail.

"You're being too cautious..." Gaara said. "You don't want to come close to me at all. I guess I'll have to make you." He laughed, as sand burst from the ground in front of Gaara. Just as it was about to engulf her, she quickly rolled out, and tried to rush forward out of the repeating barrages. Gaara was holding back his speed, he was purposely going slowly - he enjoyed watching her run. And then he got bored. The sand lifted itself from the ground and pinned her to the wall of the arena. Ino struggled, but the grip just got tighter and tighter. It took all her willpower, as Ino managed to get her hands together to form a handseal.

"Shintenshin No Jutsu! (Mind Body Switch Technique)" The crowd was shocked that she actually was trying to do something, as her mind traveled through the sand and towards Gaara's mind. Gaara had no idea what was going on when she passed through his armor and into his head. But Ino couldn't handle it much longer. His mind was too mentally damaged to explore, full of pain and bad memories. And then there was something else inside. It wasn't like the Inner Sakura she saw before - it looked like a demon. She was trapped and unable to get out of the horrors of the boy's mind. She struggled, trying to force Gaara to give up through his mind.

Out side the crowd couldn't guess what was going on. All they saw was Gaara with a stern look on his face, and Ino's body stuck against the wall by a giant hand made of sand. And then suddenly Gaara laughed. The hand around Ino took her from the wall, and raised her to the sky, as it tightened her grip.

"That's enough Gaara!" Naruto yelled from the crowd, as did the other rookie 9.

"Naruto! You have to do something." Lee, standing next to Naruto said. "If he could do this to me, who knows what he could do to Ino!"

"You're right..." Naruto jumped from the stands, and into the arena, using a kunai to try and slice through the hand of sand. The sand just reformed, so Naruto tried the method of going after Gaara in close combat.

"This match is ended! Yamanaka Ino is disqualified for interference on her behalf!" Genma announced. "You may let go now, Gaara." Gaara didn't let go, eyeing Naruto as he ran towards him.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto said, as he launched himself from the ground and into the air. He threw kunai down into Gaara, whose sand defense simply blocked it. Naruto landed next to Gaara and tried to punch him from the sides, but another shield of sand protected him. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as the clones proceeded to jump around Gaara's defense, trying to find a weak spot in him. Gaara was not used to 10 clones attacking him all at once, so slowly the sand barrier began to weaken. Kunai began slashing harder through the sand, and aimed straight for Gaara's chest.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" Gaara's defense didn't see it coming. Gaara had counted 10 Naruto's. Unlike Neji, he did not have the gift of seeing all around him. Thus he did not see that the real Naruto was preparing himself for an attack from behind Gaara. The Shunshin No Jutsu had launched Naruto faster than Gaara could catch, and gave Naruto the chance to land one punch into the back of his head. His sand armor crackled, as Naruto's clones protected the real Naruto.

"Enough!" Genma called, standing between the two genin. "Any more of this, and both of you will be disqualified!"

"Sorry, we were just playing around." Naruto smiled, as his clones disappeared and Gaara's armor fixed itself. The two faced off in a stare-down, before the Chuunin examiners, accompanying the Hokage went to the arena.

"We were going to announce something before our unplanned extra round of fighting." The Hokage said, as medic-nin carried off Ino's unconscious body. "May the winners of this round please step forward."

"What the hell was that dobe?" Sasuke whispered as he appeared behind Naruto.

"It's called winning, try it some time." Naruto laughed, as Shino and Shikamaru joined them, both keeping their distance from Gaara.

"All of you have done exceptional in the past rounds." The Hokage began, as the Chuunin examiners nodded in agreement. "That is why we, the Chuunin Examiners and the Kazekage have decided to deem all five of you official Chuunin." The four Konoha nin grinned, even Shino - though no one could tell.

A blast of smoke came from where Gaara was standing.

From that point onwards, all chaos broke lose in Konoha.

The Invasion had begun.

* * *

**A/N **: Two author's notes... The first one was to reply to reviews, which I am thankful for getting. I got bored today, so I completed this chapter. It's not as good as I hoped it would be, but it did what was needed. I'm having my doubts about this chapter, but I'm happy with it.

And for all you reviewers... IF I GET ONE MORE REVIEW ABOUT SASUKE... Then I'll be happy that I got one more review. :D. You don't have to say "please don't be offended about this". I don't mind, I love reviews, whether good or bad. This chapter was rushed, so I have a feeling that I won't get many good reviews about this - but hey a reviews a review.

As I said in the first A/N - If you wanna ask more, talk about it over, possibly have an argument that would put Naruto and Sasuke in shame - review me, message me, ask to talk to me. I don't mind.

And I've started a competition. Favorite reviewer of the chapter... Alahee4life, one of the first people to give me a good review. But you don't have to be nice to win though... heh...


	5. Disposable Heroes, Part 1

**A/N **: Before I start, thanks for the reviews.

Due to what everyone was telling me in the next couple of chapters a couple of things will happen. Naruto will not summon big-boss dog. Naruto will also not being using the Chidori, but will be using something else that seems plausible and effective. I'm also kind of glad nobody complained about them becoming Chunin, because in my opinion, all five of them deserve it. I was also putting out a request for a beta, to help me rewrite the past couple of chapters, and hopefully the next couple as well. For now **on with the story...**

* * *

He had no idea what was going on, but he knew when he could fight, and when it was best to hide. Dosu didn't like the situation he was in. He had been left by the medic-nins in a recovery room, and he had no idea what building he was in. He knew that the invasion was going to occur, but he had no idea that it would happen so soon. And he certainly wasn't expecting four other Sound nins to break open the wall. 

"Orochimaru requests your presence..." The red-haired sound nin spoke. All Dosu could do was nod, as the fat one lifted him onto his shoulders and took off.

- -

The arena was in chaos, as Sound and Sand nin rushed in, using a genjutsu to make all of the weaker attendants fall asleep. The remaining Jounins were left to fend off the attackers, as the Kazekage and Hokage had disappeared to battle each other.

"KAI!" Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Shino called at the same time, undoing the effects of the Genjutsu. They looked around, and were about to help fight off the invaders, but they were quickly given instructions by Genma, one of the examiners of the exam. He protected the four new Chunins, before he was confronted with the Sand Jounin and murderer of his friend - Baki.

"You four are Chunin now, am I right?" Genma asked the four boys, who nodded in reply. "I trust you to chase down Gaara, and his teammates. Now, go!" The new team took off, as they went ahead to catch up to Gaara. As soon as they left though, more chaos broke loose, as giant snakes came crashing down on buildings, and 100's of enemy nins flooded into the Village.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called to the awakened Genin, as he defeated more Sound-nin. "I need you to wake up Ino and Chouji, and pursue Sasuke and the rest!"

"How will we find them?" Sakura asked, as Kakashi did some quick hand seals, and in the midst of smoke, a dog appeared.

"Use Pakkun," he gestured to the small, pug-dog. "He'll guide you to where they are, now go!" Kakashi called, as he fended off more invading nins.

- -

"Should I summon Pakkun?" Naruto asked, jumping from branch to branch as they scanned the forest for Gaara. "He's a tracker dog, he'll be able to find Gaara."

"No need to worry..." Shino said from underneath his coat. "I already attached a female bug to Kankuro during our short-lived match. The male bugs should be able to trace the scent."

"To the left!" Shikamaru called, as the four immediately dodged an attack from the left, by a group of Sound-nin. "It is true then, this is a full-scale invasion." The leader of the group of Sound-nins just laughed in response.

"You kids should prove a good warm-up, before we kill all the other Konoha Shinobi." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, even he was offended by the comment. Looking at his surroundings, he quietly formed a plan to himself, before announcing it to the others.

"All of you go ahead, I should be able to take care of these guys easily. They're no more than minions." Shikamaru said, changing his stance, before seeing the expression on Naruto's face. "No need to worry about me, Naruto, I can defeat them all. Go ahead and defeat Gaara."

"We'll take out as many of them as possible on our way out." Naruto nodded, as the now group of three left Shikamaru, attacking Sound-nin on the way.

"So I'm left with you guys..." Shikamaru sighed.

- -

"100 sand-nins have invaded, are you worried about the crumbling leaf - sensei?" Orochimaru smiled, as he took off his fake Kazekage robe. "There are still more of my own sound-nins coming."

"Right now, I would worry about yourself..." The Hokage assumed battle stance. "I will be able to defeat you before the ANBU arrive..."

"You'll have to if you want to live..." Orochimaru smiled to himself.

The four sound nins had already arrived in place, with Dosu lying next to Jiroubo. Dosu still wasn't able to move, due to Sasuke's destruction of his spine. He eyed Jiroubo, who was too busy preparing himself to notice that Dosu was forming a plan. Deciding that he would rather die honorably, while exacting his revenge on Orochimaru, Dosu decided his best move would be to injure these sound shinobi that were apparently important to Orochimaru.

"Ready!" Jiroubo said, as he prepared the seals for the barrier jutsu, with the ANBU nearing closer.

"Kyomeisen Daibakuha! (Vibrating Sound Drill Great Explosion)" Dosu called out, as his arms began to surge with sound.

"Shit..." was the last thing Jiroubo said, before a big bang alerted the attention of the village.

- -

"Giant snake, dead ahead!" Naruto yelled, as he dodged the giant snake crashing into the ground in front of him. "I hate these things." He removed a kunai from his pocket, and leapt from the tree he was on, landing on the back of the giant snake. Shino and Sasuke just looked on at Naruto, who currently was stabbing his way into the snake.

"I suppose we should help him?" Shino asked with uncertainty.

"No, he'll tire himself out. I already shot gunned Gaara." Sasuke smiled. Naruto easily handled all of the snake's attempts to throw him off, and each time he replied with more stabbing - placing kunais all over the snake's body.

"When I say go, use your fire jutsu Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, as he prepared to jump off the snake and onto a nearby tree. "GO!"

"Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)" Sasuke surprisingly found himself complying with the blonde, and releasing a giant fireball at the snake, subsequently setting off all the exploding tags Naruto had attached to the Kunais - resulting in one giant bang.

"I love it when things explode." Naruto grinned with thumbs up, as Shino adjusted his glasses.

"Dobe, you owe me a favor!" Sasuke yelled out to Naruto, who pulled a tongue.

"Like what?"

"I get to fight Gaara first." Sasuke said, with his usual 'I'm-better-than-you' look.

"You'll provide a good warm-up for him, before I go in and actually win? Good idea." Naruto smiled back.

"I didn't mean that!" Sasuke yelled, before Shino stopped him.

"They're close."

- -

"How troublesome..." Was all Shikamaru could say, as the Shadow Bind holding the sound-nins retracted. "I've reached my limit. This is as far as I can go."

"Good. Now can you please chop of this boy's head?" The sound-nin leader asked a hidden ally, but all that appeared behind him was a poof of smoke, and in its place, Sakura, Ino and Chouji, standing triumphantly on the body of a fallen sound-nin.

"Think we can take them out together?" Chouji asked, as he cracked his knuckles.

"It's worth a shot." A voice behind the group said, as another poof of smoke appeared, and in its place - Asuma. "We'll take care of them, Ino, Sakura - go ahead." Ino and Sakura nodded, as they followed Pakkun off towards the forest.

"Let's go!"

- -

"I've finally found you," Shino seemed pleasured by the fact that he had caught up with Kankuro. "I guess now we can have that fight that we missed out on earlier."

"You sure you can take him?" Naruto asked, to which Shino nodded.

"Follow your friend's advice, there's no way you can beat me." Kankuro laughed in response, as all Shino did was adjust his posture. "But, if you want to die, then go ahead!"

- -

Before they knew it, Sasuke and Naruto had already taken off, only to be blocked off by another hurdle to jump over - Temari, who was currently holding the body of Gaara.

"I'll take her." Naruto surprisingly stepped in. "I need to warm up before I save you from Gaara." Sasuke just smirked in response, as Temari turned to Gaara to see how he was.

"Let me go..." Gaara muttered, as Temari obediently followed his request, taking a step away from him, as he stood upright. "Come with me, Sasuke..." Gaara grinned, as he moved to another tree-branch, further away.

"Kamaitachi No Jutsu!" Temari instantly called out, catching Naruto off-guard with a blast of wind from her fan.

"You're a quick one!" Naruto barely managed to dodge the attack, getting his black shirt torn as a result. Another blast of wind forced Naruto to jump back to another tree branch, where he regained his composure.

"If dodging is all you can do, you should forget about battling my brother!" Temari taunted, as Naruto merely pulled a tongue - even Naruto would admit it was an immature gesture.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" He called, as he pumped chakra from his feet, pushing him forward and towards Temari, catching her before she had time to use her fan once again. "Gotcha!" Naruto prepared to punch her before he was stopped by something that plagued his mind. Temari used the delay to push away Naruto, and release another gust of wind, blasting Naruto into a nearby tree.

"I can't fight you!" Naruto yelled, as Temari jumped closer to him, to get better aim.

"Scared?"

"NO!" Naruto yelled in response, as he dodged another blast, jumping from branch to branch. "I've never fought a _girl_ before! So I don't know whether I'm allowed to hit one!"

"Sexist." Was all that Temari had to say, as she prepared to pursue Naruto in close-combat, seeing as he wouldn't be able to fight back.

"He may not be able to fight in close-combat, but I can!" Ino yelled, as she arrived with a punch to Temari's face. Behind her was Sakura and Pakkun, all watching the two kunoichi's commence their fight.

- -

Sasuke on the other hand, didn't like the circumstances he was in. As the battle went on, Gaara became more and more deformed, the sand was forming some sort of armor around him, making him look more and more like a monster. Even though the sand guard had dropped, in his new half-demon form, Gaara was able to extend the sand armor on him to attack Sasuke, and was even able to move faster than he normally did.

He threw kunais to distract Gaara - who was intent on just killing Sasuke, and not worrying about the plan that he was implementing. The kunais shot out with a string attached to each of them, and each time Gaara battered one of them away, they either were attached to one of the trees around him, or to the sand armor itself. Gaara had no idea what was going on before it was too late.

"Katon: Ryuka No Jutsu! (Fire Release : Dragon Fire Technique)" Sasuke blew fire out of his mouth, and it followed the lines of the string and finally reached Gaara, where the flame had grown and surrounded all of his body. The flames seemed to melt away most of his sand armor, as Gaara was left with sand dripping from his face. But even as this was happening, all Gaara did was laugh, as the sand reformed and the armor regrew itself. Sasuke had already planned ahead, even if the jutsu hadn't worked, it would give him the time needed to prepare his next jutsu.

_Flashback_

"Sasuke." Jiraiya said, as he watched Sasuke try to mold the chakra of the Rasengan into the balloon. "I'm sorry for putting this much pressure on you - you have already passed my expectations and completed so much of the Rasengan already. The fourth took three years to do it!"

"The fourth also had to create it, and spent the rest of the three years trying to make it a more powerful jutsu by adding an element." Sasuke growled in response, as he once again tried to mold the chakra into the balloon. "What I have now is an incomplete jutsu, barely enough to rival the fourth's."

"Even though the jutsu is incomplete, it still is progress."

"I still have to surpass my brother!" Sasuke yelled, as he once again attempted to mold his chakra into the balloon. So far he was only able to hold it for a few seconds, before it released itself, either exploding violently, or just disappearing all together.

"I thought we had gotten over that Sasuke." Jiraiya shook his head in confusion. "You show signs of nearing completion -"

"The third step accounts for half of what it takes to create the Rasengan! You told me that!" Sasuke said, interrupting Jiraiya in the process.

"As I said before, you show signs of nearing completion, as you can temporarily hold the Rasengan for a few seconds. With your speed and the Sharingan, you should only need those few seconds." Jiraiya said. "It is ideal for you, even if it is incomplete and even if you did not learn it all in a month!"

"What happens if I can't use it in the few seconds?"

"Most likely, as with the balloon, the chakra will explode on your hand. Your incomplete Rasengan should only be used once in a day, to avoid damage to your arm - even if it is used correctly."

"And the damage to me will be...?" Sasuke dared to ask.

"If it is used incorrectly, and it explodes on your arm, you might never be able to use your arm again." Jiraiya said, as a solemn look appeared of Sasuke's face.

_End Flashback_

"This is the second time I've used this today..." Sasuke said quietly, remembering when he used it on Dosu during the exam. "And if this doesn't work - I'm screwed."

"What are you waiting for?" Gaara said, as he pulled himself together.

"RASENGAN!" Sasuke called, as the chakra molded into his hand. His sharingan was fully activated, as he charged at Gaara. In the few seconds left, Gaara had regained the demon-shaped sand armor on his arm and had already extended it to meet Sasuke in mid-air. Sasuke could already feel the chakra coming loose, out of it's normal ball shape, as it began to grow more unstable. Pushing forward, his arm met Gaara's, as the ball of chakra exploded, greatly damaging Gaarra's armor once again, but inducing a sort of recoil effect on his arm - throwing him back to another tree branch.

"Fool..." Gaara muttered, as the sand burst from his demon-shaped armor. "DIE!" The sand leapt at Sasuke, but before it could reach him, a blonde flash was seen, and an explosion followed - destroying the sand completely. As the smoke died down, Gaara and Sasuke were left to wonder what had happened, and in the area of explosion appeared Naruto, standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face as he yelled out his challenge to Gaara.

"Now that we're both warmed up, let's begin!"

* * *

**A/N **: That was part 1 of the Invasion Arc! This chapter was alright... In my opinion the Part 2 would read much better than this one, as this one was mainly the setting out so I can tie up all the loose ends next chapter. 

Hope you enjoyed it, as much as I'm going to enjoy the Gaara vs. Naruto fight next chapter - Naruto is place at a great advantage in this one, as he neither has the Chidori or the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. For those of you who are desperate to know, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke didn't learn the Chidori and Rasengan at the same time, chances are Naruto might learn something equal later on - as of the Invasion Arc, things are going to stray from the canon plotline. So while you all are complaining about Naruto not knowing Chidori, here is one thing to think about, while your waiting for part 2 of the Invasion Arc. **What did Naruto use to explode the sand and save Sasuke?** Knitecrawler gave me the idea, so KC's not allowed to tell anyone!

Before replying to reviews though, I will reveal the reviewer of the chapter... Sir MIDNIGHT The Dark Knight - the only guy to realize what the chapter titles meant! Metallica songs. Who would've guessed? After the Invasion Arc, I'm going to switch bands, so you guys can keep guessing. And now for the actual replying to reviews... (and there's a lot too)

**Genaric Name** - Naruto wouldn't betray Konoha for anything. I probably will make Sasuke go off to find Tsunade. Did anybody else wonder what Sasuke did while Naruto went on the training mission? This will prove to be an extra arc, in which Naruto and "the obvious character" go off somewhere to do something.  
**Gree** - Well, Dosu pretty much committed suicide in this chapter. It's not like I hate him, I just can't think of a plot line where he'll fit in. Wait, I just did. Hold that thought.  
**Alahee4life** - As I said before, Naruto and Sasuke didn't learn their techniques at the same time, so I probably will make Naruto learn the like later on.  
**BakaHammerGirl** - That quick scene in which Naruto and Sasuke fought the snake was just for you! Your review made me laugh. And yes a revision will be in order. Right after I find a beta to do it for me... grins evilly...  
**Knitecrawler** - All I can say is :D. For those of you wondering, me and KC have reached a level of friendliness. KC helped me with this chapter, so kudos.  
**FatalWolf117** - May not be the best ever written? Gosh that was offensive. JOOKES! Thanks for the positive remarks, made me happy.  
**Konoha's Kage** - You came at a close second to my favorite reviewer. That comment you made made me happy and gave me ideas for the following chapters. Now I really might make Sasuke summon a toad, it would be funny to see Sasuke go WTF when he summons Gamakichi instead of Gamabunta.  
**TheOtaku Akatsuki **- It's not going to be a complete turn around. For now, it would be safe to say **Naruto would not be running away to the Sound**. Next chapter will show a good reason why.  
**Kitsune Shinigami** - I just banged my foot on my desk - it hurt. And I like my shoes... Stay Away! Nah, jokes, have my shoe, a happy reader is a happy writer.

'til Part 2 and the conclusion to the Invasion Arc/Chunin Arc guys!


	6. Hero Of The Day, Part 2

"Shukaku..." Gaara muttered, a grin forming from ear to ear.

"What?" Naruto had heard that word sometime before, but found difficulty in tracing back to where and when he had.

"It's the name of the demon inside me..." Gaara said, as his claw of sand reformed on his arm, and shot forward towards Naruto once again. Naruto dodged, landing on the extended claw and running towards Gaara. Naruto's mind was plagued with thoughts about what Gaara meant by 'Shukaku' and the mention of the demon inside. While thinking, he failed to notice the claw retracting from underneath him. He landed on a branch below him, regaining his composure. "Are you not afraid?" Gaara asked curiously, raising a non-existent eyebrow in the process.

"Should I be?" Naruto asked. "Does this Shukaku look scarier than you do right now?" He removed shuriken from his holster, throwing them at Gaara, and exploding on his sand claw as it attempted to protect Gaara's body. Naruto used the opportunity to get closer to Gaara, taking out a kunai to slice up the sand armor. His whole strategy was immediately cancelled out, when Gaara actually was able to move in his half-demon form, and jump away to another tree branch. For such a bulky form, Gaara had increased much more in speed than before. Naruto didn't actually expect Gaara to be able to move in this form, and when he did, Naruto had to rethink all his plans.

"Tell me Naruto... Why are you fighting me? What do you stand to gain if you win?" Gaara asked, as Naruto created two shadow clones next to him.

"To stop you from causing even more damage!" Naruto said, as he used the two clones to intercept a sand-attack, enabling him to get closer and stab Gaara right through the sand armor with a chakra-enforced kunai. "Obviously it will take more than this to stop you though..." Rather than blood, sand poured out onto his hand, as he was quickly knocked away into another tree by Gaara's sand claw.

"Do you really expect to win?" Gaara laughed, extending his sand-claw to once again hit Naruto before he reached the tree branch, and repeating the move once more to grip him with the claw. Naruto found himself unable to move, as he squirmed within the tight grasp of the sand.

"You're confused as hell Gaara." Naruto smiled as his mind-games continued, causing Gaara's confidence to falter. "You think you're in control, and that you have the power. You try to give your life meaning by taking others. But no matter what you do, you'll still feel lonely. When you're so called 'life purpose' is fulfilled, you'll be where you were at the beginning, all alone, and by yourself." Gaara's non-demon hand clutched his head in confusion, and Naruto found the sand grip loosening, but not letting go completely.

"You're wrong!" Gaara yelled out loudly, as he further clutched his head in anguish. Naruto's hands managed to squeeze itself together in the tight space of Gaara's claw - and Naruto formed a familiar, cross-shaped handseal.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, bursting out of the sand grip, and surrounding himself with ten Naruto's. "Your purpose is to kill? My purpose right now is to wake you up from that hallucination!" Naruto's Kage Bunshin threw themselves at Gaara, and Naruto used their bodies to jump on, each one disappearing when he stepped on them. Using the bridge created by the clones, he got closer to Gaara, putting his plan in action. Gaara reacted as expected, his sand claw predictably extended itself to destroy the clones, as Naruto and two remaining clones jumped towards Gaara, and when within range shouted - "BUNSHIN DAIBAKUHA!"

"What?" Gaara didn't know how to react, as he was sure that his sand armor would protect him. But the three Naruto's exploded on him, his confidence reaching an all time low, as most of his armor was destroyed, and he plummeted to the ground - sand crumbling underneath him. The real Naruto however, was already placed right under Gaara's landing spot preparing himself to give Gaara a wake-up call.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" With amazing speed, Naruto looked like he teleported off the ground to where Gaara was in mid-air, and kicked him square in the chest, into another tree-branch and onto the ground. "That was from Lee." Naruto said, before coughing out blood himself. "Dammit... This can't be my limit..." Since Naruto was still new to the chakra control, the speed of his new attacks, and the repetitive use of the Shadow Clones and Exploding Shadow Clones, Naruto's body was still adjusting itself, as he was still relying on only his own chakra.

"Naruto!" Naruto's head turned sharply to see Ino calling his name, along with Sakura standing next to her. "Are you alright?" Naruto was happy to see them, but his moment was quickly ended, when he turned his head once more.

"So that is as far as you can go..." Naruto was shocked to see Gaara stand up, a mixture of sand and blood dripping from his body. "Let's see if you can take anymore!" Gaara laughed, as sand collected around his arm, shooting out - towards Ino and Sakura.

"INO!"

- -

_Not so long ago..._

"I am not fighting alongside you, Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted loudly, as Temari just shook her head, as if she was embarrassed for the two of them. "Last time we had a chat, you left me unconscious on the Chunin Exam Building floor!"

"Do you think I want to fight alongside you, we don't have a choice!" Ino yelled at Sakura. "I don't want to have to protect you, or watch you ogle over your precious 'Sasuke-kun'!"

"Oh and you don't?" The words had struck Ino hard. She hated those times, when for some reason or another, she would've willingly given herself away for the Uchiha heir. It was only after her many attempts had she grown to see that her time shouldn't be spent with someone who didn't share a mutual feeling with her, and didn't even show any sort of interest in the opposite sex. It had only been then when she realized that her time was better spent with her team and friends, and her recently acquired friend - Uzumaki Naruto.

"Let's just get on with this..." Ino muttered angrily, as she took out her kunai, and prepared to fight the Sand Kunoichi.

"Well spoken." Temari smiled, pleased that they were getting some progress from the two Konoha genins. "Kamaitachi No Jutsu!" Pakkun decided it would be a good time to leave, as he vanished in smoke, leaving Sakura and Ino to dodge the oncoming wind attack.

"Great help he was..." Ino muttered under her breath, as she landed gracefully onto a tree branch. Quickly, she through multiple kunai at Temari, who easily blew it away with her fan. "NOW!" She yelled, as Sakura threw her own kunai at Temari while she was distracted. Temari turned around just in time to block the basic strategy, and was forced to turn around once again, to block a punch from Ino - who had tried to sneak up behind her.

"You really think I'm that stupid?" Temari smiled, as she punched Ino square in the chest, which disappeared in smoke, revealing itself to be a log of wood.

"Yes I do." Ino smiled, as she tried to punch Temari in the chest again, but Temari easily dodged, giving Ino an opening. Ino smiled, when Temari dodged - she distanced herself from the fan. Ino dived for the fan, and tossed it towards Sakura, who caught it in mid-air. "That was a strategy Shikamaru taught me." Temari just growled in response, as Ino jumped away to another branch.

"Ino! I can't do it!" Sakura said, as Ino joined her on the same branch. "I can't figure out how to open this!" Sakura said, as she waved the closed fan around with no results.

"Give me that!" Ino yelled grabbing the fan of Sakura, only to find out that she also wasn't able to open the fan.

"We'll see who the smart one now is." Temari said, as she caught up with Ino and punched her in the chest. Sakura tried to react as quick as possible, but Temari intercepted her kick and grabbed her foot in response. Ino recovered from the punch, and while Temari was distracted with Sakura's feet, she punched Temari back in the chest. For no apparent reason, Sakura kicked Temari in the chest and proceeded to punch Temari. Like her brothers, Temari only trained in one area, for her - her fan. This resulted in the fact that while she was able to dodge effectively, her Taijutsu was average.

"Now Ino!" Sakura yelled, as she trapped Temari in a full nelson. Ino nodded, as she took aim on Temari.

"Shintenshin No Jutsu!" Ino easily overcame Temari's mind, and controlled her body into knocking itself out, before quickly returning to her own, and looking for Naruto and Sasuke.

- -

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Ressurection)" Orochimaru smiled, as the bodies of Zaku and Kin began to dissolve into dust. His hand seals moved at a fast pace, he had almost reached the end of it, but unlucky for him - that was when the explosion sounded. It shook the building they were standing on like a miniature earthquake, causing Orochimaru to falter, and thus making his jutsu useless - as Zaku and Kin's body had already been destroyed, but no one had been summoned yet.

"Your time is up!" Sandaime yelled, as he charged at Orochimaru with a kunai, preparing to engage the Snake Sannin in close combat. Lucky for Orochimaru, he was quick enough to dodge the old man's attacks, but failed to gain the upper hand in the taijutsu confrontation. As he tried to punch the Hokage, his attack was blocked, and Sandaime used the opening to try and stab Orochimaru.

"How long do you plan to delay me?" Orochimaru smiled. "The barrier has already been set."

Sadly for Orochimaru, he failed to notice that his perfectly orchestrated plan had failed.

The murdered bodies of the "Sound Four" surrounded the roof where the battle was taking place, as the ANBU stood triumphantly over their opponents.

"That boy sacrificed himself. If he hadn't, the Hokage would be in immediate danger." The ANBU captain said, as he stood over what was left of Dosu's body. "His sacrifice will not be in vein! We shall aid the Hokage!" The remaining team of ANBU quickly reached the Hokage, at the same time surrounding Orochimaru.

"The barrier has been set?" Sandaime smiled, as his own ANBU team, surrounded Orochimaru. "Checkmate, my student." For a second Orochimaru looked defeated. And then he lashed out at the surrounding ANBU. He summoned Kusanagi in lightning speed, twirling the sword around to slice open one ANBU, while attacking the rest. The five remaining ANBU handled Orochimaru well, using their katana's to block all of Orochimaru's strikes, the high speed battle commencing.

Their katana's weren't able to land a hit on the Sannin, but then again - neither was his Kusanagi. Orochimaru desperately became more suicidal, allowing one ANBU to slash him across the chest, at the same time allowing Orochimaru to stab him. Reacting quickly, and violently, another ANBU managed to break his own katana on the Kusanagi, forcing it out of Orochimaru's hands, with the shards of the sword catching Orochimaru off guard - and parts of it slashing Orochimaru's face. The distraction was enough for two of the ANBU to furthermore keep Orochimaru busy, while the third remaining ANBU jumped back, and surprisingly took off his mask and revealed himself to Orochimaru.

"You may not remember me." The ANBU said, as the two other ANBU's grabbed Orochimaru's arms and trapped him within their grasp. "But my name is Tenzo, and I used to be one of your test subjects."

"You survived?" Orochimaru grinned, as his neck extended and attempted to attack Tenzo.

"Luckily for me, your experimentation also allowed me to do this! Mokuton: Moku Joheki! (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)" A dome of wood came out of the ground, and before Orochimaru was able to reach Tenzo, it trapped him inside.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way." Sandaime said to the dome, before turning to Tenzo. "Take him away!"

- -

"INO!" Naruto screamed, as she was trapped in the grasp of the sand claw. "Sakura, quickly go and help Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, as Sakura nodded and went to aid her teammate.

"And where do we go from here? Naruto..." Gaara smiled, as the sand built up, making him grow larger and larger, until he was the exact copy of the demon inside of him - Shukaku. Naruto looked up at the large demon, as he began to see sand surrounding him as well, preparing him for the desert coffin.

"Shit.." Naruto said, as he tried to form a handseal, but was low on chakra. The sand surrounded him completely, and he was left with one choice. Pulling down his shirt, so he could see the Cursed Seal on his neck, he focused on his need and will to have more power, and the Cursed Seal responded by spinning violently. He winced in pain as the Cursed Seal broke past the barrier, and formed a black, tattoo-like pattern down his arm and half of his body. As he demanded more chakra, the black tattoo's that moved around his body began glowing red.

_"Boy..." _The voice of the Kyuubi echoed inside of his head, as the mix of his own chakra, his cursed chakra, and the Kyuubi's chakra manifested in his body. _"What are you planning to do?"_

"Defeat that demon..." A swirl of red chakra formed around him, and grew more violent. "I need more!" He yelled, as more chakra flowed through his body, more pain was put on him, causing the chakra to burst around him, relinquishing the barrier of sand.

"He escaped with just chakra?" Gaara said, as he looked down at Naruto from his spot on top of Shukaku's giant body.

_"You plan to beat that?" _The Kyuubi laughed inside of him, as Naruto just shrugged off the thought. Cracking his knuckles he prepared for his battle.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as the swirl of red chakra surrounding him pulsed downwards, rocketing his body towards Gaara. "Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, as two bunshins appeared on Shukaku and exploded, causing little harm to the giant mass of sand. Naruto landed on Shukaku's body, dodging the sand that tried to capture him. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" The clones protected Naruto, taking all the attacks from the sand for him. As Naruto neared Gaara's body, a large mass of sand hurled itself at Naruto, throwing him off Shukaku's body.

"I guess I'll try a different approach." Naruto said, as he landed gracefully on a tree.

"If you want to die, all you have to do is ask..." Gaara smiled, as he activated hand seals himself, before shouting his jutsu. "Tanuki Neiri No Jutsu! (Tanuki Sleep Technique)"

"What the..." Naruto breathed, as Gaara fell unconscious, and the body of the Tanuki began moving on its own.

"I'm free?" The Shukaku laughed loudly, as it looked all around himself. "Who am I supposed to kill?" He jumped up and down excitedly, an unexpected reaction that Naruto expected.

_"I would at least have more restraint if I was set free." _The Kyuubi commented from inside Naruto's mind.

"Very subtle Kyuubi..." Naruto said, at the Kyuubi's suggestiveness.

"I was brought out to kill this boy?" the Shukaku laid its eyes on Naruto, whose body now contained the tattoos of the cursed seal all over it. "I'll make it nice and quick. Fuuton: Renkudan! (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)" Naruto didn't know what to expect, as the Shukaku breathed in deeply, and released a large mass of air towards Naruto.

"Shunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto pulsed as much chakra as he could downwards, hoping to escape the large blast of air. But it proved not enough, as he was caught in the current and thrown back, along with the other destroyed trees. Wiping the blood trickling from his mouth, he stood up, and prepared for his next attempt at an attack.

_"Do you even have a plan?"_ The Kyuubi asked, as Naruto gritted his teeth together, and formed a hand seal.

"Sort of." His mind drifted back to all the basic techniques he had taught him, trying to find one that would prove useful. He thought quickly, remembering as far back to the Survival Test with Kakashi, and he quickly formed a plan.

"Fuuton: Renkudan!" Shukaku, called again, but Naruto had already disappeared.

"Gotcha! Doton: Shinju Zanshu No Jutsu! (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique)" The short range move allowed Kakashi to previously trap Sasuke underground during the Survival Test, though Naruto didn't have the strength to pull down the whole of Shukaku, instead using the jutsu to appear underneath Shukaku - underneath his most vulnerable area, his tail. "I need more chakra!" Naruto growled, as the cursed seal pulled more chakra from the Kyuubi and himself, causing Naruto more pain, but at the same time - granting him more power.

"Tajyuu Bunshin Daibakuha! (Multiple Clone Great Explosion)" Naruto yelled out, before escaping down the hole he had previously dug. In his place, 100 clones had thrown themselves onto Shukaku's tail, all exploding simultaneously. The Shukaku had no chance to react, falling forward, and landing on its face. "All I have to do now is get close to Gaara..." Naruto got up, and climbed onto Shukaku's body, intent on waking up Gaara before Shukaku got up. "Shunshin No Jutsu!" Shukaku's body rumbled beneath him, as Naruto threw himself towards Shukaku's head, where Gaara's body lay. Getting closer, he could feel Shukaku starting to get up, but it would already be too late to try and throw off Naruto. Pulling back a fist, he lunged at Gaara, punching him in the face and waking him up.

"I'm awake?" Were the first words that Gaara said, as he turned around to see Shukaku's tail had been blown off, and Naruto was standing triumphantly in front of him. Gaara turned back to Naruto, and formed a handseal, as sand from Shukaku's head blasted at Naruto, throwing him back. "Sabaku Kyuu! (Desert Coffin)" The sand began to build up around Naruto, who slowly found himself in increasing pain. The amount of strain the Cursed Seal put on him was too much, and he had already reached his limit.

"This is as far as I got... On my own..." Naruto said, before correcting his last comment. "No. I haven't been doing this on my own, I've been using this cursed chakra... I was lying when I said I reached my limit before. I was too tempted by power, that I abandoned myself for this..." Naruto said, as the Cursed Seal began to retreat. "I can do this all on my own..." The cursed seal retreated back to its resting place on his neck, and the seal Kakashi had placed reinforced itself. Blue chakra replaced the red one previously, and formed around Naruto, who knew he could break out, as he had done previously. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto used his signature move, as he burst out of the Desert Coffin, and the 10 clones shielded Naruto from oncoming sand attacks. Naruto had no chakra left for a Shunshin, as he had used most of it with the past jutsus. He was only a meter away from Gaara, when he jumped in mid-air, but was trapped by Gaara's sand, which had wrapped itself around Naruto's arms. The one clone who had survived the sand attacks ran, instead of helping Naruto. The clone dived off Shukaku's body, as Naruto grinned at Gaara.

"Boom." Gaara's eyes widened, as Naruto exploded on him, revealing himself not to be the real Naruto, but another exploding clone. Gaara was low on chakra as well, so the barrier of sand, and his armor were barely enough to protect him from the blast, resulting in a mass of blood surrounding his body. The real Naruto, who had survived the blast now stood triumphantly, watching the falling Gaara with a grin on his face. He limped over to Gaara's body, himself exhausted. Standing over the fallen Sand-shinobi, he had to make sure he was defeated.

"Why are you so strong?" Gaara managed to say.

"I know what it's like." Naruto began, as Gaara was forced to listen to Naruto's story. "To be hated by everyone as you were growing up, to be alone. I was the same as you before, though a bit less murderous." Naruto chuckled, as he coughed out more blood, before resuming his speech. "Knowing what it feels like, I'm not going to allow anyone to take away those people who saved me from my hell, even if it meant killing you. Someone once told me, that I'd be truly strong when I protected by precious people, I understand what she, I mean he, meant." Sasuke, dropped down next to Naruto, along with Sakura, who was holding Ino's body.

"She's alright Naruto. You won." Sasuke admitted, as his teammates congratulated him on his win. Both battered and bruised, Temari and Kankuro appeared next to Gaara, lifting him to his feet, putting his arms around their shoulders.

"Temari, Kankuro..." Gaara whispered. "I'm sorry..." The comment confused Kankuro and Temari, who simply nodded. "Thank you, Naruto." The sand trio disappeared, as Team 7, with Ino, was left to themselves.

"You actually did it Naruto." Sakura said, as Naruto turned to her and nodded. With one last look at Ino, Naruto collapsed into exhaustion, getting a well deserved rest.

* * *

**A/N**: The end!... Or is it? No the story hasn't ended, just this arc, next chapter will feature the repercussions of the war - Sandaime survived, Orochimaru has been captured, and the Sand/Leaf alliance has been broken.

This chapter was rather entertaining for me to write, but it was also a very hard chapter to write as well, for some strange reason which escapes me. Before I start replying to reviews, the favorite reviewer this chapter was... **BakaHammerGirl**. Your reviews make me laugh. So here are the replies.

**d.greynight** : Well, now that Sandaime is alive, things are going to go differently...  
**Kitsune Shinigami**: As long as it doesn't poop on my keyboard, we're cool. It can join the rest of my slave lemurs in beta'ing my chapters.  
**LT2000** : You guessed right, it seemed like the most plausible move, as Chidori would've seemed ridiculous for Naruto to just randomly know.  
**FatalWolf117**: I have a couple of ideas of how it'll work if Naruto learns Chidori. IF.  
**BakaHammerGirl**: Technically not all of the Rookie 9. I had to leave out Hinata and Kiba, because they were... uh... sleeping? And yeah, some of the points you brought up were insightful, and I agree.

To all my readers, next chapter should be done within the week, within the fortnight at latest. Reasons such as this - I'm probably going to start revising the past chapters, and school resumes next week. Anyway, a couple of things to expect from next chapter - A motivational speech by Sandaime, and a talk between Orochimaru and Jiraiya. And what the hell is Kabuto doing while all this is happening? Check my profile for more updates, and next couple of chapters will be the transition to a new arc. By the way, since the past 6 chapters have all been names of Metallica Songs which I seem fit to the chapter, the next couple will be names from another band. Hint : Mamasan Trilogy.


	7. Alive

"So have they milked all they could out of you yet?" Jiraiya asked, sitting on a stool in front of a maximum-security jail cell.

"I'm taking some secrets with me to the grave." Orochimaru laughed, trapped in his straight-jacket and bound to the chair he was sitting on with chains and jutsus. "Is that why they sent you in? Just to see if you could get more out of me?"

"It's the only reason Konoha is keeping you alive." Jiraiya admitted, as he looked into the eyes of his old teammate. "So, do you have anything to say to me?"

"I'll tell you something." Orochimaru smiled. "For my own pleasure. Recent information has come to me, and I haven't told anyone this yet." Jiraiya leaned in closer to the jail cell, as Orochimaru happily admitted his secret. "The reason I rushed my invasions was because of this one fact - the Akatsuki are coming. I couldn't have them interrupting my plans!" Orochimaru laughed loudly, as Jiraiya had a worried look on his face.

"They're after the Kyuubi, aren't they?" Jiraiya said. "They've almost completed capturing all the demons, haven't they?"

"Of course they're after the Kyuubi! I wonder how you got your hands on the information about their plans." Orochimaru said to himself. Jiraiya was always a resourceful one, able to get information from a variety of anonymous sources that no one would even think he had.

"My information? I have spies everywhere Orochimaru." Jiraiya said. "That's how I knew you were coming to Konoha, and that's why I'm here now."

"Care to tell me who that spy was, old friend?" Orochimaru asked, as Jiraiya began to get off his stool. "Just let your old teammate know."

"We stopped being friends the moment you left Konoha." Jiraiya said bitterly, as he walked away from the jail cell. "Die quickly, Orochimaru." Jiraiya said, before turning to a hidden figure. "Kabuto, let's go." The silver-haired spy joined Jiraiya, before taking one last look at Orochimaru.

"The fool actually outsmarted me..." Orochimaru muttered under his breath, as he came to terms with the fact that his subordinate was spying on him the whole time. "Goodbye, Jiraiya."

- -

"As a village, we have suffered. And in a short time, we were forced to mature." The gathering of Konoha Jounin, ANBU and Chunin listened to what their Hokage had to say. Among the crowd were the newly promoted Chunnins - Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru and Naruto. "But as I expected, our village stayed strong, some of our fellow Shinobi protecting our village to the very end."

Each face in the crowd held a solem look when addressing their fallen comrades, all whose names were being etched on the stone that stood in the Konoha memorial. In respect for the fallen, each Shinobi had dressed in black, the ANBU even removing their masks.

"We have fought and prevailed, and as tired, battered or bruised we are, we still stand strong. The Village of Konoha is proud to be protected by powerful shinobi, such as yourselves. I am afraid I am not as strong as I used to be." The Hokage said, as he began finishing his speech. "Which is why I am going to retire as Hokage, once again, as soon as a new Hokage is announced. Until then, we shall keep doing the great work we have done up until now, and we shall all percevier as a village. That is all." The Hokage stepped down from the stage, and was followed by a group of now-masked ANBU, leaving a shocked crowd of Shinobi.

- -

After the speech, Sasuke had limped his way back to the hospital, where he was forced to stay and rest, until someone came back for him. Jiraiya had left with Kabuto, a shinobi that confused Sasuke too much to think about. When they first met, Kabuto was a genin, and then it was revealed he was really a Jounin-level, medic-nin impostor who worked for Orochimaru, and now he was seen with Jiraiya, something that Sasuke didn't understand.

"Jiraiya? Where is Jiraiya?" A Jounin burst into the hospital, into the room where Sasuke, and other injured shinobi were staying.

"He already left." A medic-nin calmly said, as the Jounin just shook his head in response. "Why, what is the problem?"

"Tell Jiraiya," the Jounin said anxiously. "The Akatsuki are here, the traitor Uchiha Itachi is back, they're at the north gate!" Sasuke burst from his bed, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. His limp seemingly disappeared, as he rushed out of the room, and straight out of the hospital, heading towards the north gate.

- -

"Where are we going, Kakashi?" Naruto asked, as they walked out of Konoha. It wasn't the fact that he had been dragged out of hospital that bothered him, since he recovered quickly, it was the fact that Kakashi wasn't telling him why they were leaving Konoha so suddenly.

"There are people in this world," Kakashi began, as they walked out of the South Gate of Konoha. "Who are sometimes more powerful and terrifying than a Kage. And when those people get together, it only means bad things can happen."

"What?" Was all Naruto could say, as he was confused with Kakashi's story.

"The Akatsuki, Naruto, is a group of those people who are after the 9 demons." Kakashi said, looking over to Naruto. "That's you. A friend told me that they were coming, and so we're leaving as soon as possible."

"Well said." A figure dropped in front of them. He was tall and built. He had blue skin and blue hair, with gils and shark-like teeth, clad in a black robe with red clouds. "You aren't the only ones with spies. I bet you thought you were smart by, escaping through the back door. But, I'm here to collect my prize."

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked.

"Hoshigaki Kisame."

"Good, because I have to know what to name your dead body." Kakashi said, as Kisame charged at him, with his large, bandaged sword. Kakashi barely had time to react, as he pulled out his kunai and blocked. His kunai easily broke under pressure, and Kakashi was forced to jump back.

"I take it this is the demon brat?" Kisame smiled, as he swung his sword in Naruto's direction. Kakashi quickly intercepted the attack, by grabbing the sword in mid-air, but the sword pulled itself back to Kisame. "Samehada doesn't like other owners." Kakashi lifted up his headband in response, revealing his Sharingan eye. "My partner also has a bodypart like that." In the seriousness of the situation, for some reason Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the comment.

"Sorry, please continue." Naruto giggled like a schoolgirl, as Kakashi and Kisame shrugged, before turning back to each other.

"Suiton : Bakusui Shoha! (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)" Kisame called, as he spat a large amount of water from his mouth. The water surged towards Kakashi, who, with Naruto, dodged the attack, jumping away. The pool of water Kisame had created covered such a large area that Naruto and Kakashi both landed ontop of the water - standing on it with their chakra. It was only after the jutsu had been used that Kakashi realized its purpose, not to attack - but to create a pool of water for Kisame to use. "Suiton : Goshoukuzame (Water Release: Five Eating Sharks)" Five sharks made of water jumped from the pool they were standing on, and went to attack Kakashi and Naruto.

"Suiton : Suijinheki! (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)" Kakashi said, using the water to his own advantage and surrounding himself and Naruto in a barrier of water, protecting himself. The sharks and barrier returned to water, as Kakashi and Naruto stared at Kisame.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as he, and five other clones charged at Kisame.

"Stop Naruto!" Kakashi called, but he was too late. The five clones were easily destroyed by Kisame's sword, and Naruto barely managed to dodge the second attack from the sword.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, as a clone of himself went to explode on Kisame. Kisame was too quick, using his sword to suck all the chakra out of the clone, thus rendering it useless and it disappeared. Kisame turned his sword on Naruto, and was about to suck away his chakra, but Kakashi interrupted.

"Suiton : Goshoukuzame." Kakashi copied Kisame's earlier jutsu, as five sharks jumped out of the water beneath Kisame, and attacked him. Kisame destroyed the sharks, giving Naruto time to get away.

"Suiton : Suikodan No Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Shark Missile Technique)" Kisame and Kakashi both called out at the same time, as two large sharks formed out of water charged into each other, smashing each other back to water in the process.

"I'll get you with Taijutsu!" Kisame said, as he charged at Kakashi. A kunai flew straight at Kisame, who quickly dodged - right before being kicked in the head.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A voice yelled, as a green blur kicked Kisame in the head, knocking him down. " 'Konoha's Noble Green Beast' has arrived!" The voice of Maito Gai called, leaving a shocked audience of Naruto, Kakashi and Kisame.

"Dammit, as much as I'd like to kill you all, I can't." Kisame growled. "It seems that at his state now, it would be easy to capture the nine-tailed fox whenever we want. After all, this battle was just a test to see how much the demon has grown - seemingly not much at all." Before they could catch him, Kisame had disappeared, leaving a very confused Kakashi and Naruto, and a grinning Gai.

* * *

**A/N : **This chapter was not much to my liking, but mainly used as a filler, to set the stage for the next arc, it was short so yeah. I apologize for it taking so long, because I just started school again, and I don't have Microsoft Word and am working out of the Documents Folder that Fanfiction gives you, so its difficult to spell check. I apologize for all spelling and grammar mistakes. 

Before I start, a reply to Absolutely No Body. Because I'm too lazy to PM him. or her... It's hard to tell. **Normal readers can skip this part.**

For point number 1 - Obviously you stopped reading at chapter 3, seeing as most of the stuff you wrote had already been covered in the later chapters. How would Kakashi know that Jiraiya was in Konoha? In the manga/anime he just popped out during Ebisu's training. Kakashi wouldn't let Ebisu teach Naruto - who had 2 unstable seals on him. They're not even allowed to talk about the seal on him. Point number 2 and 3 was explained in the next chapters. Fourth and final answer. Wrong element to master the Rasengan? Rasengan is a neutral technique, unfinished - no element had been attributed yet. So it's open for anyone to learn it, that's why Kakashi knows it. When Kakashi tried to add an element he wasn't trying to add wind, he was most likely trying to add lightning. Jiraiya is most likely a FIRE user, as most of the techniques we have seen him use so far are FIRE. I didn't teach Sasuke Rasengan to complete the Fourth's work - that is still up to Naruto to live up to his legacy.

To sum it up, it's sad that you gave up by the third chapter and didn't even bother to read the rest of the story which covered ALL the points you brought up. But, you're probably not going to read this, I just needed to get it off my chest. I might PM it to you if I feel the need to. Zing!!

**And now the real A/N begins here. **This chapter was basically a filler, to set the stage for the next arc. Which brings up my question, I was reading the new Naruto chapters, and was just wondering what would happen if Naruto got Zabuza's sword. I've already planned out how he would get it, but its only just an idea now, and probably won't happen till a couple of chapters later. So, the question for today is - **Should Naruto get Zabuza's sword?**

Also,** some confusing things happened this chapter, so the following explains it. **Kabuto had been spying for Jiraiya all along, he had set up for the Sound 4 to capture Dosu, knowing he'd take his revenge. He never killed anybody in this story, and never really worked against Konoha, only enough to make him believable to Orochimaru. The Sasuke vs. Itachi encounter happened as normal, with Jiraiya interrupting and Itachi fleeing as normal. I also made Kakashi a little stronger than canon.

And now for the replies...

**RobotPirateNinja**: Well this chapter they did. They captured him to get information out of him, they wouldn't kill him without getting the valuable information he posseses about Akatsuki, and locations of missing nins.  
**Zanbashi**: Yeah, I'm going to try and make Ino train a little harder.  
**Krow Blood**: But seriously, they were sleeping. All the genin got put under the same genjutsu that made them fall asleep. As Kakashi explained, taking more than a 4 man team would be unreasonable.  
**BakaHammerGirl**: Woo! A very well thought out review. I'm taking some of those ideas with me. If you want to help me beta the chapters, please do, as now I don't have a word processor and am working out of the Documents file itself. All the help I can get is great :D

And no favorite reviewer this chapter. All of you were great. Heh.


	8. Once

"No can do." Jiraiya said to the Hokage, with Kabuto at his side.

"You're actually denying it?" Sandaime had an amazed look on his face. "After all these years, you're denying a direct request to become Hokage?"

"I'm sorry, but being Hokage would restrict me from wandering around, and writing my books." Jiraiya said. "Among other things..."

"You'll find time." The Hokage replied, as he tried to persuade Jiraiya. "I remember when I first trained you, you wanted to be Hokage!"

"All three of us did!" Jiraiya said. "But we all became more realistic with life. Sorry, Sensei."

"Is there anything I can do to make you reconsider?" The Hokage asked.

"Not that I know of." Jiraiya replied. "Thanks for the offer."

- -

"No." Sandaime said, while filling out some paperwork in his office. Paperwork had to be done, but like all Hokage's before him, he hated it. Even more so, he disliked the fact that he had to reject so many requests in one day, the most recent being Kakashi, who was currently standing in front of him. Naruto on the other hand, was forced to sit on the other side of the room, still dressed in his simple black shirt and orange pants.

"What?" Naruto yelled across the room in response.

"Please Hokage-sama, Naruto needs to train." Kakashi asked, as the Hokage shook his head. "If you let us go for at least a week, I'm sure I'll be able to make Naruto more able to protect himself in the future."

"No." The Hokage repeated. He could understand Naruto's need to train, seeing as he was currently targeted by the Akatsuki, though he couldn't have him running out of the country and possibly into their hands. "You can always train inside the village, it's not that bad of a place."

"Hokage-sama!" The loud voice came from the door, as Gai burst into the room. "Lee needs -"

"No." The Hokage sighed again, as he continued his forms. "This is the third time you're asking me, but no. I can't let all my Shinobi's run around outside village borders while I'm still finding a way to persuade Jiraiya to become Hokage."

"But his leg! He needs the medical attention that no one here can give!" Gai said. "Not that I am insulting Konoha's medical shinobi..."

"I can sympathize with you Gai but..." And then an idea came to the Hokage's head, simple, and able to fix all of his problems at once. "Gai, what are Neji and TenTen doing at this moment?"

"Neji? Training, as always. TenTen is also training with her family." Gai replied.

"And Kakashi, what about Sakura and Sasuke?" The Hokage asked.

"Sasuke is back in hospital after his encounter with his brother." Kakashi said. "And for Sakura, I convinced Kabuto to train her in medic-jutsu. Why?"

"C-Rank Mission, for the three of you." The Hokage said, gesturing to Naruto, Kakashi and Gai. "Solve all our problems, find Tsunade, the _other _Sannin."

"What about Lee? Can he come?" Gai asked excitedly, as the Hokage thought about it.

"Lee is injured, he is not able to come on any missions." The Hokage replied, as Gai quietly nodded in response. "Kakashi, this mission should give you time to train Naruto, while Gai can find Tsunade for medical assistance. Understood?"

"Yosh!" Gai called out, in anticipation of the mission.

"And Naruto..." The Hokage said, gaining the boy's attention. "Don't forget to where your vest, your a Chunin now."

- -

"As requested Naruto, I shall train you to become ten thousand times as strong!" Gai yelled loudly, literally dancing circles around Naruto and Kakashi as they made their way out of the village. He was over-excited, with the prospect of healing his prized student, and gaining another one as well.

"Really?" Naruto asked, now wearing the standard green vest, and with his mouth wide open. "Can we start now? Can we Kakashi?"

"Whatever." Kakashi sighed, as Gai removed from his backpack a pile of weights. "Gai, don't you think that's a little much? We don't want to break Naruto's bones on the way there!"

"These will help you become as fast as Lee in no time!" Gai proclaimed, ignoring Kakashi's comments. Kakashi, though, was proved right, as Naruto wasn't even able to hold up the weights in his arms, crushing him in the proccess. "No Naruto! Stand up! Feel the burning passion!" Gai said, as he tied the weights to Naruto.

"Overdoing it." Kakashi said. "It still amazes me that you can carry all those weights in your backpack."

"They're only 10 kilo weights!" Gai said, strapping weights to Naruto's wrists, ankles and body.

"I'm holding you responsible if you kill my student." Kakashi said, as Naruto tried his best to keep up with Gai and Kakashi. He was practically dragging his feet towards the two, groaning loudly in the process.

"Don't worry Naruto, at this rate it will only take two days to reach Tsunade at the Land of Waves!" Gai said.

"Two days..." Naruto groaned back.

"We can always visit the 'Great Naruto Bridge'" Kakashi teased, as Naruto just cursed under his breath.

- -

"Where are we?" Naruto collapsed on the ground, though he had gradually become more accustomed to wearing the weights, it still tired him out nonetheless.

"See that over there?" Kakashi pointed to the bridge not so far away. "That's the Great Naruto Bridge. I just thought it would be good if we stopped off here for a while." Kakashi began walking up a hill, as Naruto and Gai followed.

"Where are we going?" Gai asked, as Naruto answered his question for him.

"Our first major mission involved the defeat of two Mist Missing-Nins. There graves are just ahead." Naruto said, his mind focusing on getting to the graves of Haku and Zabuza, rather than the stress the weights were puting on him. Kakashi reached there first, but froze as soon as he got there. Climbing the hill faster to see what was wrong, Naruto and Gai joined him.

"What is it?" Gai asked.

"The sword..." Naruto gasped. "It's gone." Kakashi shook his head in disgust, as he began to descend from the hill, with Naruto and Gai following.

"Graverobbers..." Kakashi replied, with a rather bitter tone to his voice.

"It's an insult." Naruto added, he found that focusing his mind on something other than the weights made it easier for him to carry them, so currently, it was just plain anger. "An insult to their memory. I'm going to find who took that sword and beat them to a bloddy mess."

"Naruto." Kakashi said, trying to calm down his student, as Naruto was known to get the most emotionally attached.

"I'm serious Sensei. I want to find who took the sword, and take it back." Naruto replied.

"I agree with the flame of youth." Gai replied, referring to Naruto. "I now feel obliged to help! Right after we find Tsunade!"

"Before we enter the Land of Waves, I'm going to let you know what's going on." Kakashi said, as he turned to the two of them. "The Land of Waves is famous for two things. Firstly, their construction industry as we can see near us. And secondly, the casino's, which is why with no doubt - Tsunade is here."

"Then let's go!" Naruto yelled, but surprisingly, Gai stopped him.

"Naruto, going headfirst into a mission without having a plan is dangerous, even for the fire of youth." Gai whispered, as Naruto nodded, slowly taking in Gai's way of ninja, as ridiculous as it sounded.

"So, the plan is to split up and search all the gambling sites, got it?" Kakashi said.

"But aren't I a little too young?" Naruto asked.

"You're a Chunin, say you're on a mission and they should let you in." Kakashi replied. "I've got these two tracking devices, when one of us finds Tsunade, activate it immediately, and it will notify us of your position."

"Let's go!" Naruto called, as the three left.

- -

"No." Tsunade said.

"You don't say no to me!" Naruto sneered at Tsunade. "I've been rejected too many times in the past couple of days!"

"Quiet, or I'll call security on you..." Tsunade replied, as she went back to the slot machine, of course as always - she lost, living up to her reputation as 'The Legendary Sucker'.

"Look lady, right now I have more problems than just security!" Naruto yelled. "I have to drag you back to Konoha, I have to kick the ass of whoever stole Zabuza's sword, and I have to deal with these weights which are killing my body!"

"Really?" Tsunade smiled in response.

"Yes, really!" Naruto replied, more insistant.

"Why?" She asked, as Naruto grew more frustrated.

"Becasue!" Naruto yelled, as if pointing out the obvious. "To lead to my ultimate goal!"

"Of what?" Tsunade asked, deciding to humour Naruto for the time being.

"Becoming Hokage." Naruto replied. A flood of memories rushed back to Tsunade, of Dan and Nawaki, their dreams and ideals of becoming Hokage, and their determination. Her hand drifted to her neck, where she touched her cursed necklace. She wondered how those two words had suddenly reminded her of Dan and Nawaki.

"Let's make a bet." Tsunade said.

"Even I know about your reputation Tsunade, so I might as well agree now." Naruto replied in a matter-of-fact tone, much to the annoyance of Tsunade.

"The bet I was about to say was to find the sword." Tsunade replied sternly. "And in turn I will give you this necklace, and come back with you to Konoha."

"Easy enough." Naruto smiled. "But why would I want the necklace?"

"This necklace belonged to my grandfather, the first Hokage." Tsunade said, knowing she had Naruto hooked. "Though you only have two days."

- -

"I must be lost." Gai said to himself. He had found himself on the outskirts of the Land Of Waves, and unknown to him, had stumbled on to Sound Territory. Venturing further into the new land, he began calling out. "Tsunade?" He asked, as he walked through the forest.

"Well, well, well..."A voice called out, as a young teenager, looking only a little older than Lee himself, appeared. Wearing only a pair of black pants, and wielding a giant sword, the boy had shark-like teeth, and blue hair. "Looks like we have a lost Konoha nin."

"Care to help me find my way back?" Gai said in response, as he adjusted his stance. "Friend..." Gai replied, knowing that this was all going to end in a fight.

"The name is Suigetsu." The boy said, as he held the sword in front of him. "And sure, we would love to help." Standing behind Suigetsu appeared a gang of missing-nin, all blood-thirsty and wanting to fight. "Finally, after being kept so long in that snake-bastards prison, we're finally let out to do some damage."

"This should be fun." Gai said, as he activated his tracking device - calling Kakashi and Naruto.

* * *

**A/N **: Looking at the "Naruto Geography" page on wikipedia, I just noticed how close the Sound Village and Konoha were. For those of you who didn't understand what just happened this chapter, since Orochimaru's death, his experiments and prisoners have all been freed - the Land of Waves and Sound Village are pretty close to each other, seeing as how in the manga Suigetsu went and got Zabuza's sword in no time.

And yes, that guy at the end is named Suigetsu, he is one of the canon Naruto characters, who many of you believe shouldn't have gotten the sword. So yes, Naruto will most likely get it.

Favorite reviewer of this chapter goes to... : KyuubiWolff, Boejangles and Allahee4life for giving me ideas of what to write in the following chapters.

For some replies to reviews...

**Nightblade888** : No disrespect? Nothing in your review offended me, I like criticism. I can understand that alot of people didn't like the fact that Sasuke got Rasengan, but I guess that makes my story unique.  
**Quathis** : Living up to Yondaime's legacy to me is not by finishing his jutsu, but rather becoming a greater Hokage then Yondaime was. In my opinion it is more interesting to see Naruto invent more original techniques.  
**Sir MIDNIGHT** **the Dark Knight **: Well, everything happens for a reason, even though in this chapter Kabuto was only heard of twice, and the other changes in the plotline seem hidden, they all build up to something in the end. And about your alert thing not working, neither is mine! For some reason it takes a week to tell me I got a review!  
**The-Eighth-Sin / Andrew Joshua Talon** - I know! I'm a crappy romance writer, so please excuse me on that part. I've been reading some romance fics just to help show me how to write it, but we'll see in the future. By the way, **The-Eighth-Sin** is a cool Pen Name. Just thought I'd let you know.

Thankyou guys for over 100 reviews. Makes me happy.

The question for this chapter is **What do you think of Jiraiya becoming Hokage?**


	9. Footsteps

Gai ducked under an attack from above, turning around to kick his attacker in the chest. Another one approached Gai, trying to kick his head, but it was easily blocked and the leg was broken in half. Turning around to face another attacker, Gai blocked the punch, and punched him back in the face. All this was done in the space of 10 seconds, as bodies built up around Gai. He resumed his stance, flashing his shiny teeth to top it off.

"Doton : Doryudan No Jutsu! (Earth Release : Earth Dragon Blast Technique)" A voice from behind Gai called, as mud, shaped like a dragon, came out of the ground and headed for Gai.

"Suiton : Suijinheki! (Water Release : Water Encampment Wall)" A voice next to Gai called, as a barrier of water appeared, protecting Gai from the blast of mud.

"As expected of my rival to show up!" Gai smiled, as Kakashi appeared next to him.

"And I came here because I thought you found Tsunade..." Kakashi sighed, before asking - "Where's Naruto?"

- -

As soon as Naruto's transmitter went off, he was confused. He had already found Tsunade, so he wondered why he was needed.

"I have to go." He said meekly to Tsunade, right before realising that the weights were still on him, and he still had to drag himself towards wherever Kakashi or Gai was. Walking slowly, now that he had become more accustomed to the weights, he made his way out of the casino - one slow step at a time.

"Shizune," Tsunade whispered, as her subordinate appeared next to her. "Let's follow him, I want to see if he finds the sword."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

- -

"So you were the one that killed Zabuza?" Suigetsu asked, as he approached Kakashi, who was currently fighting more escaped experiments.

"And you would be?" Kakashi asked, as he ducked an attack and stabbed above with his kunai.

"Suigetsu." He introduced himself, yet again. "I trained with the Mist's Swordsmen when I was younger, so I know how to use this." He grabbed the hilt of Zabuza's sword, as he prepared to behead Kakashi.

"That sword!" Kakashi said, as he quickly blocked the large blade with his kunai. His kunai barely held, breaking it in half, and forcing Kakashi to jump back several metres.

"Zabuza was killed by you?" Suigetsu mocked the copy ninja, as he once again tried to slash Kakashi with Zabuza's sword. Kakashi dodged the attack and tried to kick Suigetsu in the chest, but as he did, he only kicked liquid. "My body is interesting, don't you think?" Suigetsu smiled, as his body turned from liquid to solid.

"A result of Orochimaur's experimentation, I'm guessing." Kakashi muttered as he went to strike Suigetsu, as expected, he hit liquid. Realising that it was a Mizu Bunshin, he turned around to stab, but all he saw was Suigetsu, seemingly dragged underground with only his head above ground level.

"Doton : Shinju Zanshu No Jutsu! (Earth Release : Inner Decapitation Technique)" Suigetsu was stuck with Zabuza's sword underground, as Naruto stood triumphantly in front of him. "You have no idea how long it took to get here and dig a hole under you." Naruto, clearly tired, took a second to take a break, but by the time he was done Suigetsu had already liquified himself thin enough to escape the hole.

"Congratulations." Suigetsu replied with the same cocky personality as before, as he swung the sword down on Naruto. Naruto instinctively pulled his right arm up to block, and both he and Suigetsu was surprised when the sword didn't slice right through. It was only then when Naruto saw the weights still strapped to his wrist, as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. Pulling his right arm back quickly, he punched forward again, striking Suigetsu in the chest with surprising speed.

"It did work..." Naruto said, as he adjusted his stance. Suigetsu went to slash Naruto again, but met with the weights on Naruto's left arm, breaking them in half, and allowing Naruto to punch Suigetsu in the chest again. Naruto jumped back while Suigetsu recovered, using the time to rip off the remaining weights on his legs and body. "That feels better." He said, as with even faster speed, he managed to land a few blows on Suigetsu before he could recover. Naruto withdrew a kunai, to block the sword, using his other arm to punch upwards into Suigetsu's arm, loosening his grip on the sword. Naruto turned around and kicked Suigetsu in the chest, only to be met with more water.

"Luckily I can still liquidify myself." Suigetsu said, as he charged at Naruto.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as he launched two clones of himself at Suigetsu. The two clones managed to dodge Suigetsu's first attack, but were unable to land a blow on him. Suigetsu ducked under the first clones kick, and blocked the second clone's punch, but failed to notice Naruto sneaking up behind him and punching him in the back. The three Naruto's launched themselves at Suigetsu, though this time Suigetsu was able to destroy one of Naruto's clones, and block the attack of the other. Naruto met liquid once again, as Suigetsu didn't bother to block his punch.

"Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!" Suigetsu called, as he jumped back and created two water clones of himself. The three Suigetsu's and their swords managed to handle Naruto and his own clone, though they were able to work together better than Suigetsu's own clones. Naruto and his clone sliced through one of Suigetsu's clones with a kunai, as Naruto attacked the second Suigetsu, and his clone attacked the other Suigetsu. As Naruto punched Suigetsu in the face he dissolved into water, following Naruto's own clone being sliced in half. Naruto withdrew shuriken from his holster, and tossed it at Suigetsu, who easily blocked them with his sword.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, as one clone jumped from Naruto and onto Suigetsu, exploding on him. Naruto thought he had won, but instead only saw a puddle of evaporating water, revealing it to have been another water clone.

"Game over." Suigetsu replied, his sword to Naruto's neck. Suigetsu looked down at Naruto's neck, and the first thing he saw was the spinning shuriken-shaped tattoo, and the black flames that began to descend from it. "Your cursed seal?"

"Check." Naruto replied, as he exploded on Suigetsu. Suigetsu was fast enough to dodge the explosion, but wasn't fast enough to see Naruto appear behind him and kick him in the chest. Suigetsu turned around to slice Naruto, but Naruto quickly ducked, and punched Suigetsu in the chest, surprisingly, instead of liquidifying, Suigetsu's body stayed solid, and took the damage. Naruto stood in front of Suigetsu, his cursed seal active, and covering half of his body. Chakra grew as he could feel with more pain coming, along with the power.

"You're making me thirsty." Suigetsu growled, as he adjusted his stance, and Naruto realised what had just happened.

"That hurt you didn't it?" Naruto asked. "The exploding bunshin I mean."

"Shut up!" Suigetsu replied, as he tried to slice Naruto, but Naruto dodged and jumped back once again. Suigetsu couldn't keep up with Naruto's new found speed, and his added chakra from his cursed seal. When he did manage to catch up, Naruto easily dodged the sword and jumped back.

"You're ability relies on being an external source of water, even the moisture in the air would do." Naruto said, as he figured out how to defeat Suigetsu. "The exploding bunshin managed to evaporate some of the water in the air... And so you can't liquidify yourself. Also, you're chakra relies on there being moisture - so you're weakening."

"Shut up!" Suigetsu repeated, as he tried to stab Naruto, but Naruto dodged once again, the Cursed Seal tempting Naruto into goading Suigetsu, to make him feel more humiliated. . "But don't worry, the moisture in the air is returning."

"Suigetsu, the watery moon. Representing the reflection of the moon in the water, which can be seen, but cannot be touched." Naruto said, as he formed a familiar cross-shaped handseal. "A shark without water is helpless. Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as he and two of his clones attacked Suigetsu. Suigetsu dodged the first clone and sliced through the second, but Naruto managed to land a kick on Suigetsu, pushing him into his other clone, which punched him in the back. Suigetsu was already able to liquidify himself again, so he didn't feel the attack. Turning around he dodged another attack from the clone, before liquidifying himself once again as the real Naruto attempted to make an attack.

"Your theory may be right, but there will always be moisture in the air, no matter what." Suigetsu stated. "So no matter what you try, you will never be able to hit me."

"Hit you?" Naruto laughed. "I don't even need to hit you anymore. Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, as this time, five exploding bunshins appeared. Naruto's body became more infected by the cursed seal, as Naruto became driven by the power. The exploding bunshins surrounded Suigetsu, exploding all around him, temporarily evaporating all moisture in the air and rendering him useless. Even further, the explosions lit fire among the plants surrounding them, as Suigetsu began to feel the direness of the situation.

"I can still kill you!" Suigetsu called, but Naruto already had a scroll in his hand, and blood was marked accross it.

"Kuchiyose : Doton : Tsuiga No Jutsu (Summoning : Earth Release : Tracking Fang Technique!" Naruto called, as dogs immerged from the ground and grabbed Suigetsu, trapping him with their bodies and fangs. "There is no escape, and even if you do find a way to liquidify - they will drink you." Naruto grinned, as the cursed seal raged more, and Suigetsu dropped his sword. Naruto picked up Zabuza's old sword, and weighed it in his hands. "Now I can see why you wanted this sword." Naruto grinned, as he pulled the sword back, ready to stab.

"Game over." Naruto said, thrusting the sword forward, to hit someone who was not Suigetsu, instead one of the escaped experiments. Naruto withdrew the sword, and the man who sacrificed himself died. The dogs disappeared and Suigetsu collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Naruto's mind flashed back, he had just replicated the same moment between Kakashi and Zabuza, from the dogs trapping Zabuza, right down to the attempted Chidori in the chest hitting Haku. "What am I doing?" Naruto said to himself, realizing that he had just taken a life. He forced his cursed seal to retract, and he felt the pain of it, and the strain it put on his body. Slowly, it obeyed, coming back to its resting place on its neck.

"Was that the first person you killed?" Suigetsu laughed while he was on the ground. "I guess it's true, the Cursed Seal brings out the worst in people." Naruto brought the sword down on Suigetsu, stabbing it into the ground right next to his head. "You're just like that monster, Juugo."

"What do you know about the Cursed Seal?" Naruto asked. "And if you try and liquidify your way out of this, I will hit you with a fire jutsu so fast you'll evaporate before you can say 'ouch'." Naruto lied through his teeth, as he was not able to even created a fire jutsu himself yet. He mentally noted to learn how to use them later on.

"I do know that the originator of the Cursed Seal is not Orochimaru." Suigetsu said. "It's one of the experiments, but he's probably dead by now." Suigetsu lied through his shark teeth aswell, but Naruto couldn't tell, and he just walked away.

"Regroup!" Kakashi called, as Gai, and Naruto - now with the sword, joined them. They had managed to defeat all of the experiments, and were now standing in the middle of all the destruction.

"Sorry we're late!" Shizune and Tsunade burst from the bushes, as a confused Gai and Kakashi stared at them. "We were following Naruto and got lost. He dug a hole, and then we couldn't find him."

"You..." Naruto said, as the Sannin approached Naruto. "You lost." Holding the sword up, Tsunade just smiled back.

"So you won the bet." She said. "Here's your prize." Tsunade said, tossing Naruto the necklace. "Let's go, I don't want to stay in this grave yard any longer." She said, as she kicked an unconcious body.

"Suigetsu," Naruto said, as he lent over his opponents body. "After we leave, you have 10 minutes before the Hunter-Nin gets here. Pretend to be unconcious."

"Why?" Suigetsu asked.

"Remember, pretend to be unconcious, got it?" Naruto said, as Suigetsu groaned in reply. "I hope we meet again."

"Naruto! Let's go!" Gai called, as Naruto quickly caught up, strapping the large sword to his back. "It seems you broke my old weights."

"Sorry." Naruto apologized, as Gai just pulled a good-guy pose in response.

"Do not worry Naruto! I always keep spares!" At that point, Kakashi, Shizune, Tsunade, Naruto and even TonTon sweatdropped. "But these are all 20 kilograms! Even better!" Naruto had no chance to stop Gai, as he strapped them to his ankles, wrists and chest, and along with the sword, he could barely walk.

- -

"Do you think he would have been stupid enought to bring his ring to Konoha?" Kisame asked, as he and Itachi searched Orochimaru's hideout, where they recently let all of his prisoners escape.

"He had a plan." Itachi replied. "So either his ring is hiding somewhere here, or he still has it, and kept it with him to the grave. Wait." Itachi stopped Kisame. "Someone's following us." Footsteps approached them, as Itachi used a genjutsu to hide himself. As soon as he caught sight of their stalker, he rushed the stalker from behind, holding a kunai to the stalker's throat.

"Itachi, it's a girl." Kisame said, pointing at the girl who Itachi was holding a kunai to.

"Who are you people?" The girl asked.

"I could ask you the same question." Itachi replied.

"Karin..." She said. Itachi never moved, always keeping the kunai a centimetre away from her neck.

"Where's the ring?" Kisame demanded.

"I don't know!" She said, as Itachi checked his surroundings. This was the place where the most powerful of Orochimaru's experiments were kept, though there were only two jail cells.

"Karin," Itachi said, addressing her by her name. "Who are in those two cells?"

"Kimmimaro... The last Kaguya clan member." She said, pointing to the cell to the right. "And Juugo... The originator of the Cursed Seal." An immediate plan formed in Itachi's mind, a way to solve all his problems at once.

"Kisame, open the cells."

* * *

**A/N**: In my opinion, the main reason I wrote this chapter like this, and so fast, was because I just wanted to pen down a fight scene between Suigetsu and Naruto. Why didn't Gai fight him? Well in the current manga, Suigetsu is Jounin level, but at the same time - So is Naruto. So three years before the current manga, Suigetsu probably wouldn't be as strong as he is now due to the fact that he hasn't been experimented on further by Orochimaru, and he probably hasn't had the three years to train. SoI decided to keep him alive. Why? Well as I said last chapter, every difference has a role in the future. If you read my profile page, I've done pretty much the basic planning up to the three year skip. 

Now for some replies to reviews.

**Kitt Moones** : Yeah. Things will get a lot more confusing from now on.  
**slacker40** : Right again, the sword did fall into their hands, but Naruto still has to learn to use it!  
**S219 **: Well, it was a question, so whether ANYONE becomes Hokage or not is still up for grabs. I'll let the readers decide.  
**Allahee4life** : Are you feeling special? Because I was thinking of killing of Suigetsu, but I read your review, and then came up with heaps of other future plans for the character - so Suigetsu will pop up in a couple of chapters. You'll see.  
**BakaHammerGirl** : LOL! That's all I have to say. I'm laughing as I write this.  
**Watashi No Sukinahito **: Is that a yes or a no? But I agree, it will be funny. Question - what does Ja ne mean? My foreign languages suck. Sadly, so does my English.  
**Andrew Joshua Talon **: What fic was that? I must investigate! Ha! As above, is that a yes or a no? It would certainly make things interesting, at the same time make Tsunade wonder what the hell she is doing in Konoha!  
**Final Kaenboshi** : Woah. You just gave me an idea. I'm not gonna specify which one, just in case I spoil you. But anyway - as above, Karin, Juugo and Kimimaro are alive! But sadly they're in the hands of Akatsuki. My bad. And your 2.5 cents is well taken. I will flip that 2.5 cent coin to see who becomes Hokage. :D  
**Boejangles** : Haven't lost all my ideas yet! Still have a lot going. (If you read my profile.)  
**The-Eighth-Sin **: Well I'm currently including a lot of manga elements, but as I do, I'm using them without spoiling them, though at the same time giving background and making their stories much much different. The use of Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu (the current manga people I have stuck in this fic) will go a lot different than in the manga.

And so ends this arc (a short three-chapter one). Yeah I was being tricky before. I actually had already planned for Naruto to get the sword, I was just wondering what you guys thought about it. Heh. And so ends the Mamasan Trilogy! For anyone who didn't know the band, it was Pearl Jam. The next one should be easier. Here's a snippet from the next chapter.

- -

"Naruto, for your new jutsu, chakra control is important." Kakashi replied to the Chunin.

"I know that chakra control isn't one of my strong points." Naruto admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "So are you going to teach me it?"

"No. But I have found a teacher for you that specialises in it." Kakashi said. "He's and expert in these sorts of things, and he'll be able to make you're new technique formidable. He's right behind you." Naruto instantly turned around, to see the familiar looking Konoha Shinobi.

"You?" Naruto gasped. "Sorry - I forgot who you are."


	10. Plug In Baby

**A/N **: Before I begin, I just realised that I've reached the 10th chapter - without a disclaimer. So nonetheless, here it is.

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. **

How exciting, eh? Well, on with the story.

* * *

"We both have a problem." Jiraiya paced the small room in his apartment, rubbing his chin in the process. "And I think that's the only solution."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, as he walked circles around the room. "It's a big risk."

"A risk necessary to take." Jiraiya replied. "It's the only option. Will you do it?"

"I guess so." Kakashi replied. "Yeah, I'll definitely do it then."

- -

"Train me." Naruto said, as he stalked Kakashi down the hallways.

"I'm busy." Kakashi said, scribbling notes furiously into his notepad. "The Hokage just appointed me with a new mission."

"So what, bring me along. I'm Chunin, you know." Naruto stated, but Kakashi's one eye was focused on the notepad.

"A mission is a mission Naruto. Train with Gai, or someone else." Kakashi said. "Sasuke is already training by himself, Sakura is training by herself as well, with Tsunade's subordiante - Shizune." A lightbulb sounded off in Kakashi's head, as he began writing more notes. "I'm going to have a chat with Sakura and Shizune."

"What about me?!" Naruto asked, as Kakashi quickly formulated a plan. "I still need more jutsu!"

"I have an idea. Meet me on Training Grounds 4, in two hours." Kakashi said, as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Like you'll be there early." Naruto muttered.

- -

In exactly two hours, Naruto cursed himself for expecting Kakashi to show up early on Training Grounds 4. He yawned, as he opted to relax on the ground, rather than stay standing. As a Chunin, he was expected to take more missions, but he found himself being ignored, getting all the boring missions such as chasing cats, and gardening in backyards, jobs that were usually reserved for Genin. He was dressed in a simple black shirt with orange pants with his sword strapped to his back, as he found that his new Chunin vest got in the way when training, as did the weights that were still strapped to his body. He had almost forgotten he had weights attached to himself, as he had already gotten used to them, and had also gotten used to avoiding Gai, for whenever they met - he would add more weights to the toll.

"That's a big piece of metal." A voice from behind Naruto said, as he turned around to see Ino. "You've been gone for a while."

"Missions." Naruto replied, as Ino sat next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Boredom. Chouji's out eating, Shikamaru and Asuma are playing Shougi, and the flower shop is being handled by my mother. So I'm bored." Ino turned to see Naruto, the usual loud-mouthed Naruto - quiet.

"How did we get here?" Naruto asked.

"Pardon?" She replied.

"To you being so kind? The last conversation we had before the Forest of Death was you yelling at me." Naruto said. "If I can remember properly."

"If you put it like that. I don't really know myself." Ino replied.

"I'm confused about it aswell. It seems so random.." Naruto said. "First there was the Forest of Death... And then the battle against Gaara... Since when were we even friends?"

"You know what." Ino said, as she began to stand up. "I think I'm suffering a memory blank. All I remember is me being angry at Sasuke and Sakura... And then..."

"It doesn't really make sense does it?" Naruto replied. "Sounds like a badly written story."

"By a screwed up author." Ino added. "So what now?"

"I guess we go out for some Ramen?" Naruto asked, and as if on cue to ruining his plans, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, scribbling more notes into his notepad. "Or not..."

"Am I interrupting something?" Kakashi's eyes strayed away from his book, as he stared at a very confused and shocked Ino.

"I was just about to leave." Ino said, as she turned around. "I'll take up that offer Naruto. We'll have that Ramen."

"It's a date!" Naruto called out, as she just walked off.

"It's a date..." Naruto could here Kakashi speak whisper under his breath, as he wrote more and more.

"What is that anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I already told you, Mission from the Hokage." Kakashi said. "So about the jutsu you want to learn..."

"I definitely want to make my own Jutsu." Naruto said. "One that beats Sasuke's Rasengan." Kakashi smiled, Rasengan was already a powerful jutsu, and trying to create a better jutsu would prove to be difficult.

"Naruto, for your new jutsu, chakra control is important." Kakashi replied to the Chunin.

"I know that chakra control isn't one of my strong points." Naruto admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "So are you going to teach me it?"

"No. But I have found a teacher for you that specialises in it." Kakashi said. "He's and expert in these sorts of things, and he'll be able to make you're new technique formidable. He's right behind you." Naruto instantly turned around, to see the familiar looking Konoha Shinobi.

"You?" Naruto gasped. "Sorry - I forgot who you are." The man was an ANBU, dressed in a grey shirt and black pants, with a black vest covering the shirt. The only item of uniform that identified him as an ANBU was his mask.

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto." He said, as he removed his mask. "As well as being an ANBU medic-nin, I am an expert in Chakra Control."

"Kabuto was one of the youngest ANBU nin, sent to inflitrate Orochimaru." Kakashi said.

"Didn't you fight him?" Naruto asked. "During the Exam? Wasn't he an enemy?"

"He also helped you during the exam aswell." Kakashi stated. "For a while we thought he suffered something like Stockholm Syndrome, but Jiraiya managed to clear it up afterwards. Well, I better leave you two together." Kakashi disappeared in front of Naruto for the second time that day, leaving Naruto with Kabuto.

"It seems you don't like the Chunin Vest either." Kabuto smiled, breaking the ice. "The vest isn't the only way of identifying your rank. There are other things, take skill as an example."

"The vest gets in my way." Naruto replied. "And I already am skilled. I just need a new jutsu."

"As do those weights. And Kakashi already told me you wanted to develop a new jutsu, so I'm here to teach you chakra control." Kabuto said, as Naruto nodded. "As a medic-nin, chakra control is one of the biggest demands. With it, I am able to match the speed of even the fastest Shinobi."

"Yeah, right." Naruto replied. "Prove it."

"Take off your weights." Kabuto said, as Naruto complied, removing the weights on his body.

"If I hurt you, I warned you." Naruto stated, as Kabuto just smiled cockily in response. Naruto began by taking off the giant sword on his back, followed by his weights. "This should be fun." Naruto immediately noticed the increase in his own speed, as he jumped towards Kabuto faster than even he expected.

"Shunshin No Jutsu." Kabuto said, matching Naruto's speed, much to Naruto's surprise, dodging his attack and getting under the body of the Chunin. Chakra formed around his hand, as he struck Naruto's ankles with his palms, following with the other vital points of his legs. Naruto immediately fell onto the ground, his legs rendered numb for a couple of seconds.

"That move was designed to mimic the Hyuuga's gentle palm style. Only a medic-nin, with chakra control _and _knowledge of the human body could do that without the Byakugan." Kabuto approached Naruto's body, leaning over the boy. "I wonder why Jiraiya chose Sasuke over you, you bear a striking resemblance to the Fourth himself."

"And I'm just as powerful." Naruto grinned, as he stood up.

"And just as cocky." Kabuto replied.

"You knew him?" Naruto asked, as Kabuto thought carefully about his answer.

"Something of that sort." Kabuto said. "Your movements are quick, but not very trained. Too wild and brawling, no precision at all. The only good quality about your fighting style is the unpredictability."

"And you're an expert on Taijutsu?" Naruto scoffed.

"I know enough to know that something else is blocking your Chakra pathway." Kabuto said, as he begun his diagnosis. "That seal on your neck I noticed earlier. You've used it. How many times?"

"Twice." Naruto replied. "And it bloody well hurt both the times." Kabuto smacked him on the head as soon as Naruto had finished speaking.

"Don't swear in front of me. Do you know why the Cursed Seal hurts so much?" Kabuto asked, as Naruto shook his head. "Orochimaru put a seal on your chest in the Forest of Death, right?"

"Yeah."

"The Cursed Seal, or the one you have, was built to unlock hidden chakra, as well as invoking a sort of mutation to change itself, and the user at the same time." Kabuto explained. "But since Orochimaru added another Seal to your body, that didn't allow you to get chakra from the Kyuubi, it remained 'hidden'. So, when the Cursed Seal was used, it extracted the 'hidden' Kyuubi chakra, from the seal, and bypassing the other seals on your body - furthermore, creating more pain."

"So all I have to do is unseal the first seal Orochimaru put on me and I wouldn't have to worry about the Cursed Seal?" Naruto asked, as Kabuto hid a hand behind his back, as each fingertip lit up with Chakra.

"Well, we'll see." By the time Kabuto had finished his sentence, he had already reached Naruto, and had his hand placed on his chest. "Gogyo Kaiin! (Five Elements Unseal)." Naruto fell over after being struck, but he found the pain left him rather quickly.

"Woah. That feels different." Naruto said, as he could feel the Kyuubi Chakra freely mixing with his own once again.

"Finally, we can begin the real training." Kabuto said, as he gently removed a card from his pocket.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"This card will help me define your element." Kabuto said, before explaining further. "There are five core elements when using chakra. Fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. Each weaker than the previous, though stronger than the next - fire is weaker than water, but stronger than wind. When creating a jutsu, you should know what element you are, as you will be stronger in jutsus of your element. So, touch this card." Naruto's hand streched out, as he touched the card. As soon as he touched it, it snapped in half, and fell to the ground.

"What does that mean?"

"Wind." Kabuto said. "The sharpest element. You'll have to master it before you use it though."

"That should be easy! What do you want me to do." Naruto said, overconfidently.

"Break that boulder in half." Kabuto pointed to the giant rock, as Naruto began to grab his sword. "With only chakra. Specifically, wind chakra."

"But..." Naruto protested.

"Wind is sharper than any sword. Learn that first." Kabuto said, as he walked over to a tree to rest. He knew it would take a while, and he would be surprised if he had managed to do it in a day.

- -

After an hour of testing out ways to break the boulder with just his chakra, Naruto was stumped. He had circled the boulder for what seemed like the thousandth time until he finally found a way to crack the surface. The boulder was about three metres long, and three metres high, and was - as a boulder usually is - rock hard. The only method that had worked for Naruto had barely managed to crack the surface, and had taken him 10 minutes to do. He placed his hand on the boulder, and focused all his chakra into his hand, imagining it as a thin blade trying to cut through rock. And it would crack.

"It'll take me years if I do this by myself." And then Naruto had an idea. The Kage Bunshin. Whenever he used the Kage Bunshin, anything he had seen or learnt came right back to him - and so and experience learnt when cracking the boulder would come back to him as well. So if he had 10 clones all working on the boulder at once, one of them would find a quicker way eventually, and in the meantime the other nine would continuously crack the surface. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as the 10 clones surrounded the boulder, all knowing the job they had to do. "I wonder when I got so smart." Naruto praised himself as they began their job.

It took another hour to figure out how to complete the job faster. He was pushing out his chakra first, and then converting it into wind, and found it would be easier to convert it to wind first, and once he had done that he could push out all the Chakra he needed. He made the clones, who did not know the information yet disappear by cutting off their chakra supply, and replaced them with more clones, who knew what to do. The 10 Naruto's pulled their hands back, focusing on converting their chakra.

"KAI!" The 10 Naruto's called, as they all pushed out chakra at the same time, slicing the boulder in half.

"That quick... This boy is getting smarter." Kabuto was woken up by the sound of the boulder slicing, and walked over to Naruto to congratulate him. "You did it." Kabuto smiled, as Naruto was catching his breath, as all his bunshins had already disappeared in chakra depletion.

"Kabuto-sensei." Naruto said, calling him his teacher. "I think I figured out what my new jutsu is. Give me ten minutes and I'll show you." Naruto said, with the added Kyuubi Chakra, he was able to regenerate his chakra supply, thus allowing him to show off his new jutsu once more. "I'll half the size of this boulder." Naruto said, as he faced the boulder, now only two metres tall, but still three metres tall. Mimicing the stance of Kakashi when he created a Raikiri, he faced the boulder with a determined look on his face. At first Kabuto thought Naruto was going to make a Raikiri himself, when he saw what was forming in his hand -

"White Lightning?" Kabuto said.

"It's not Lighting." Naruto said, as more formed into his hand. "It's wind, but it's unstable, so it looks like lightning." Naruto was right, as the wind wasn't kept in one circular form, it was untamed, thus making it look like lightning. "Fuuton : TENSHODAN! (Sky-Piercing Bullet)" Naruto called, as he thrust his palm forward onto the boulder. At first Kabuto thought nothing had happened, but then suddenly the right half of the boulder came apart, and that the boulder had suffered major internal destruction. Kabuto knew that if this had been done to a human, his body would've probably been destroyed. It worked more as an internal bomb than a "bullet" as it was thrust into the rock, before slicing outwards.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking at the look on Kabuto's face. "It's wind right? Cut right through!"

- -

"You two are here for a reason!" The Hokage said, to Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were currently standing in front of him. "Konoha is under crisis, and we need all our nins here to help out!"

"And you want us to be Hokage..." Jiraiya said.

"Quiet!" The Hokage said.

"Sorry sensei, I mean Hokage-sama." Tsunade corrected herself, as she felt like they were back to when they were younger.

"Now one of you has to take up the decision, I have already informed the village elders, and they agree that it has to be one of you, and they've already chosen that one." The Hokage said. "All three of us should already know who they've chosen, so you know what you have to do now."

"I already knew." Jiraiya admitted. "That's why I gave up my writing duties to Kakashi."

"You gave up researching?" Tsunade scoffed.

"Kakashi is my number one fan, after all. He knows where the book series was going anyway." Jiraiya replied, and for a second, Tsunade thought he had matured.

"So, Jiraiya, I take it you're accepting to become Hokage?" Sandaime said, as he removed the Hokage hat and handed it over. Jiraiya placed the hat on with a grin.

"Tsunade - I think the new Hokage needs a parade." Jiraiya grinned his immaturity retunring. "Oh and could you guys please excuse me? Me and the crystal ball need a little time alone."

"I really hope you made the right choice sensei." Tsunade whispered to the former Hokage, as they walked out of the office. Jiraiya opened up the windows of the Hokage office, as he yelled out the window.

"FOR MY FIRST ACT AS HOKAGE, BEER FOR MEN AND FAKE BREASTS FOR WOMEN! YEAH!"

"I'm going to kill him." Tsunade said, as she began to rush upstairs.

* * *

**A/N **: I feel like I typed the word "boulder" fifty times this chapter. And yeah, I took the advice of a reviewer - Final Kaenboshi - in doing something different. In this case going against what the majority of my reviewers said and making Jiraiya Hokage. Now I know some of you had problems - He Must Write! and the He Is Too Perverted! But I tried to clear that up. I got Kakashi, the number one reader, the one guy who should know where things are going in the fic to continue writing for Jiraiya - as I hinted in the first part of this chapter. And the chapter was a long and boring one in my opinion. And Jiraiya is fun as Hokage, he'll be the first head on the Hokage monument that actually smiles! He'll probably get them to do a whole body carving instead of the head, since Konoha will be renamed "Pimpsville". Jokes. It's actually going to be renamed "Jiraiya's Pimpsville." Double jokes. 

Enough of my bad jokes and ranting because I have to reply to reviews - but before I do so, I'll tell you some stuff about the future of this story. This chapter is named "Plug In Baby", so it should be much easier to guess the band that plays the name of the songs. And also - the Valley of the End arc is coming soon. That's why I might've rushed into Naruto's new jutsu a bit quickly. And the NaruIno relationship, well as I wrote in this chapter I'm working on it. I even bashed myself in this chapter. So now for the replies...

**Quathis** - Yeah, I might have gone a bit OOC with Naruto there. But Naruto is more street-smart than books-smart, and I bet he's experimented with fire and explosives before, so he knows what happens when you add explosives/fire to water - it evaporates. I was actually crossing my fingers if I got that evaporation part right, because a 14 year old's knowledge of science isn't very reliable.  
**Sir MIDNIGHT The Dark Knight **- Yeah, this week I've been repeatedly listening to Pearl Jam for some strange reason. I made the next band much easier, so most people should know what it is.  
**FatalWolf117 **- FINALLY! I found out what the name of the sword was! And yeah, for everyone whose reading this, Karin, Juugo and Kimimaro play an important role. Well not really that important, but they play a significant role.  
**Allahee4life** - Yeah, I'm creating the more jutsus for Naruto so he isn't that limited to the Kage Bunshin. This chapter, and the next will be mostly about training, so it should make Naruto stronger, and allow him to learn more Taijutsu/Ninjutsu and possible Genjutsu.  
**Kyu-kun **- Close...  
**BakaHammerGirl** - Yay for funny reviews! I'm going to try make Kimimaro's appearance, along with Juugo and Karin, as good as possible. But I also like "Kimmi-kun" so I don't know whether I should kill him or not.


	11. Time Is Running Out

The parade was organized in less than a week, full of floats provided by the people of Konoha, as they took it on themselves to compete with their neighbours, to prove who was better. And of course, Jiraiya had his own float. He was dressed in full Hokage gear, sitting on top of his giant throne, surrounded by his hand picked body guards, who were all - unsurprisingly - female. Sitting on his lap was the Crystal Ball, in which he spent more time looking at then the crowd around him. Jiraiya even went on to proclaim this day as a public holiday, as he believed that Konoha should "relax a little".

And the celebrations and parties went on till the next morning, as Konoha hadn't had anything to celebrate for a while. Most people believed that staging a parade was a smart move from Jiraiya, as it brought back the hope and spirit of the people in Konoha, who were still suffering the repercussions of the Sand-Sound invasion. The fun couldn't last forever, as the next day - Konoha went straight back to work.

The streets were cleaned quickly, shops were reopened, and ninjas began training again.

Naruto especially, was back to training with Kabuto on Training Grounds 4.

"It doesn't matter how strong you are, it's the amount of damage you create." Kabuto told Naruto again. "The Hyuuga's understood this, making their fighting styles one of the most effective."

"Why don't you go join their clan then?" Naruto said, as he continued working on the punching bag. He had had yet another clothing change - and weight change on an unfortunate meeting with Gai. He now wore a long-sleeved black shirt, covered by a thin orange vest - similar to the one Kabuto wore, with the Uzumaki swirl on the back and the words "Chunnin" written on the front. He wore black pants with orange stripes as well, as Kabuto had tried his best to get Naruto to keep the orange at a minimal.

"When you punch, don't just punch for the sake of punching, make it worth something. Circulate your chakra through the punching bag and destroy it internally. Much like the new jutsu you made." Kabuto said, as Naruto continued on punching the bag. "No not like that!"

"How am I supposed to do it then?" Naruto yelled, clearly frustrated by all the exercises Kabuto had had him do.

"Like this." Kabuto drew back a fist, and punched straight at the punching bag. For a second it looked like nothing happened, but when Naruto looked at the other side of the punching bag, there was a hole in it, and some of the contents had already fallen out. "Got it? Use your chakra when you punch, don't just rely on raw strength. Punch this." Kabuto said, as along a tree branch he had hung a row of pots.

"Stolen from Konoha's Hospital." Naruto read on the back of one metal pot, but Kabuto just smiled in response.

"Dent all these pots with one strike. Use your chakra, remember what I taught you." Kabuto said, as Naruto looked down on his reddened fists. He focused on forming wind chakra around his fist, as that would be the easiest to use. Pulling his fist back he prepared his attack.

"TENSHOKEN! (Sky-piercing fist)" He named his new taijutsu attack as he punched into the first pot, creating a hole in it, and using his chakra to push further, it created holes in all the other pots.

"Kabuto, I never knew you were a Taijutsu specialist!" Gai said, as Naruto immediately ducked for cover, hiding behind Kabuto. "Naruto! What are you doing there?"

"Tying my shoelaces..." Naruto said.

"Well you look alright. I think I'll add more weights!" Gai said, reaching for his backpack, but Kabuto stopped him.

"Sorry, Gai, but Naruto is still very tired - he hasn't gotten used to the weights I put on him yet." Kabuto lied to Gai, saving his student from further torture.

"I see we follow the same training styles! Very well then!" Gai said.

"Gai, how's Lee?" Naruto asked, as Gai's face saddened.

"He's in operation." Gai replied. "Tsunade began operation this morning, so he should be done in a couple of hours."

"Oh." Naruto didn't know what else to say.

"But do not worry! The flower of youth will prevail!" Gai said, pulling his nice-guy pose.

- -

"Must get stronger..." Sasuke said, as he continued with his daily exercises. He put himself through the tough routine every day, in an effort to keep up with the progress of his other teammate - Uzumaki Naruto. He had recently adapted himself towards Lee's style of training, focusing on pure hard work, but instead of just Taijutsu, focusing on Ninjutsu and chakra control as well.

In the corner of his eye, he could see figures moving in the tree above. To not arouse any suspicion among the figures, he continued training, but still remaining cautious as he moved about.

"Is that him, Karin?" Kimimaro asked, as they hid in a tree above the training grounds. Kimimaro was sent with his two other teammates to track down the boy. Karin - the black haired female -, was specialised in finding and tracking down chakra signatures, part of her experimentation done by Orochimaru, whereas Juugo - the pale skinned, blonde man - was just a schizophrenic monster. They were all dressed in Orochimaru's standard uniform, a white robe with a purple rope wrapped around them, but they all knew they were working for people stronger than their former master.

"I tracked his chakra signature all the way here. It is easy to track an Uchiha after all." Karin replied. "I still wonder why they're interested in this boy so much..."

"We have to follow their orders, no matter what their motives." Juugo said. His ability was in his personality disorder, where his other personality was much more frightening than his current calm exterior. "But my guess is the Sharingan."

"Can't be the Sharingan." Kimimaro corrected. "Remember, that weird guy already has the Sharingan. But nonetheless, we have to complete our mission."

"It was rather easy getting into Konoha anyway. Still trying to rebuild themselves from the invasion. And they're distracted by that stupid parade." Karin remarked.

"Katon : Gokakyu No Jutsu! (Fire Release : Great Fireball Technique)" Neither of the three had saw it coming, when Sasuke had turned around and fired a large ball of flame at them, and they were given little time to dodge. Sasuke had realised that there was more of them than him, and decided it would be smarter to run instead.

"He's making a move!" Karin said, as the three chased after Sasuke. He was barely able to reach the end of the training grounds when Kimimaro had caught up. A bone removed itself from Kimimaro's skin, as he used it as a sword.

"Freak." Sasuke said, as he removed his own kunai. Sasuke decided to stay on the defensive, as he realised that Kimimaro was not aiming for any of his vital points. "You're not just here to kill me are you?" Sasuke said, as he pushed back Kimimaro's bones and went to stab. Though before he was able to reach Kimimaro's body, bones already protruded from his skin, trapping his arm in place.

"We were sent to capture you, I suggest you don't struggle." Kimimaro replied, in a calm tone of voice.

"I suggest you let go of my hand." Sasuke grinned, as chakra formed in his hand. "Katon : Karyu No Jutsu! (Fire Release : Fire Dragon Technique)" Kimimaro wasn't fast enough to react, as he saw Sasuke inhale, and blow fire straight into its face, and from where Juugo and Karin were standing, it looked like the fire engulphed him. Sasuke felt the bones retracting, and began running again, but behind him he saw Karin and Juugo approaching him. Sasuke was sure that the fire jutsu would've been enough to severely injure Kimimaro, though didn't want to take his chances. Suddenly he heard a 'whizzing' noise, and turned around just in time to see bullets made of bone flying towards him. Taking out his kunai he quickly blocked them, before activating his Sharingan. "Seems like you guys won't let me escape." Sasuke grinded his teeth together, as he stopped and changed his fighting stance.

"I'm going to kill you for hurting Kimimaro." Sasuke saw Juugo, who was currently undergoing a transformation. Sasuke recognised it as one similar to Naruto's as his right arm began covering itself with black tattoos. He could also see Kimimaro getting up from behind Juugo, regenerating.

"You've done it now." Karin sighed, as Juugo ran at Sasuke. "He's activated his Cursed Seal..." Sasuke found Juugo matching him punch for punch, as the Cursed Seal granted him an increased physique. Juugo tried to kick Sasuke in the head, but Sasuke grabbed his leg in mid-air and threw him upwards. Activating his Sharingan, he memorized the same movements Rock Lee made. Using his chakra to jump higher he got under Juugo.

"Shishi Rendan! (Lion Combo)" Sasuke said, as he turned around, and kicked Juugo in the stomach, landing several punches on him before he fell down to the ground. He was still in mid-air, when Juugo had crashed onto the ground. Removing some kunais, he through them so they surrounded Juugo's body, as he was trapped and injured.

"Boom." Sasuke muttered, as the explosive tags attached to all the kunai had exploded, presumably killing Juugo. Sasuke looked horrified, as Juugo, at the last minute, had transformed his arms into large red shields, protecting him from the blast.

"Juugo!" Kimimaro called, from behind him. "Calm down, we weren't sent to kill him." Kimimaro calmly put a hand on his teammate, who's body turned back to normal, and he looked uninjured.

"What are you guys?" Sasuke asked.

"We're just here to capture you. And since you won't go willingly, you leave me no choice." Kimimaro said, as he changed his fighting stance. "Tsubaki no Mai. (Dance of the Camellia)." He pulled out a hiltless sword, made of bone, as Sasuke ran at him, prepared to attack.

"RASENGAN!" Sasuke called. The attack, combined with his Sharingan allowed him to dodge Kimimaro's bone attack, but he was a second too late, and a couple of inches too short when another bone protruded from Kimimaro's chest and struck Sasuke in the chest. Kimimaro struck Sasuke in the neck, knocking him out.

"Karin, Juugo." Kimimaro called his teammates. "Let's go."

- -

_One day later..._

"Don't you think you're training a little too hard, for a person who just came out of hospital? Fuzzy brows?" Naruto asked, as he watched Lee repeatedly punch the log.

"Of course not Naruto! The flame of youth is what keeps me healthy!" Lee proclaimed, as he continued beating up the log. "Would you like to spar, Naruto?"

"I don't really want to hurt you Lee." Naruto said. "Or be responsible for hurting you."

"Naruto!" A voice behind Naruto said, as Kabuto appeared.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"The Hokage requests your prescence." Kabuto said.

"Do I have to go now?" Naruto asked. "I was just resting!"

"It's urgent Naruto." Kabuto said. "You'll find it important as well."

- -

"Naruto, good to see you." Jiraiya said, as Naruto and Kabuto appeared in his office. "I have a mission for you."

"Finally." Naruto said. "What is it?"

"C-Rank, locating a missing person." Jiraiya replied. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"What?" Naruto said. "I saw him a couple of days ago!"

"Exactly. He disappeared yesterday. Around the same time the guards of the South Gate were brutally murdered." Jiraiya stated.

"You're not saying he's gone rogue are you?" Naruto asked.

"No." Jiraiya said. "Worst case scenario, if the murders and his disappearance are connected, we're afraid he's been captured. But we still don't know for what reason."

"Shouldn't it be a B-Rank at least?" Naruto asked.

"Not exactly. Last week Sandaime ordered all wandering Konoha nins to return, to do missions to help restore the Village itself. So it's routine for some Shinobi to stray away to escape such missions." Jiraiya said. "As I said before, the situation of Sasuke being captured is only the worst case scenario. I'm employing you, because Kakashi said you had good tracking skills." Naruto smiled, as Jiraiya reffered to his ability to summon dogs.

"So when do I go?" Naruto asked.

"As soon as possible, assemble a team of three, the standard number." Jiraiya replied. "If the worst case scenario is true though - just locate Sasuke and come back to Konoha and we'll send another team. Got it?"

"Understood." Naruto said, as he left the office, trying his best to hide his excitement.

"Are you sure you trust him with the mission?" Kabuto asked.

"I trust him as much as I trusted the Fourth Hokage." Jiraiya replied. "And if all else fails, I still have the crystal ball."

"To watch over Naruto?" Kabuto asked. "I thought it only works in Konoha..."

"Sure... Watch Naruto..." Jiraiya tried to hide up his true intentions, though Kabuto knew him better than that.

- -

"TEAM NARUTO!" Naruto grinned, as he looked at the list Jiraiya gave him, of the available Konoha 9. Looking at it, he was disappointed, as most of his friends were on their own missions.

"Naruto!" Ino said from behind him, as Naruto turned around. "Whatever happened to that Ramen?" She asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission with your parents?" Naruto asked, looking at the list Jiraiya gave him.

"Just finished." Ino replied. "Though Shikamaru and Chouji are still away."

"So I suppose you would be too tired to accompany me on another mission..." Naruto sighed.

"No, the mission was easy, I'd be happy to go with you." Ino smiled. Silently, in Naruto's mind, he was dancing around happily. Just him and Ino on a mission sounded like it was planned by Kami himself. And then he realised he'd need one more person. Someone else to tag along. Someone that wouldn't get in the way of him and Ino, but at the same time be a good partner on a mission. Looking at his list he thought of Kiba, but then thought of his loud personality, and knew that it would clash with his own. His eyes laid on Lee's name, but remembered that he had only just got out of hospital from surgery. And that left one last name.

- -

They reached the said name's house, a very barricaded house, hidden away, and impossible to see anything inside. Naruto dared to knock on the door, as he heard the rustle of guards move behind the gate.

"Who is there?" A deep, loud voice said. Naruto knew that if he said his name that they definitely wouldn't hear him out, so he decided to let Ino do the talking, as they would be kinder to a woman, particularly one who did not have a demon inside of him.

"Yamanaka Ino. Requesting the presence of Hyuuga Neji." Ino said, as the guards on the other side of the gate spoke to each other.

"Neji will be with you in a moment." The guard replied. It took many long moments, till the gate actually opened, and behind them, dressed in his normal clothes, was Hyuuga Neji.

"Hello Naruto, Ino." He said, in a polite tone of voice. "How can I help you?"

"Mission." Naruto said. "Sasuke's gone missing, and we have to find him. Care to join us?"

"Let's go quickly." Neji whispered. "Before the other Branch Members force me to come back. They don't like you for some strange reason, Naruto."

"I wonder why...?" Naruto rolled his eyes sarcastically, as Team Naruto left Konoha.

- -

"Where are we?" Sasuke growled, as he was trapped in a make shift cell, made of bone that was as dense as steel, being carried by Kimimaro and Juugo.

"We are almost there." Kimimaro calmly replied. "We're going to deliver you to our master."

"Orochimaru is dead, fools." Sasuke replied, as Kimimaro shook his head.

"We know that, but Orochimaru is not our master anymore." Karin said. "I believe you already know our new masters." When they reached a certain spot, they dropped Sasuke on the ground. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, two men appeared in front of the four of them, dressed in black robes with red clouds.

"I-Itachi?" Sasuke gasped, as he immediately tried to break out of his cage.

"No need to struggle, brother." Itachi replied coldly. "I didn't bring you here to fight. No, we just needed you for a more important purpose."

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"You're friend." Itachi said.

"What?" Sasuke said, as he realised they were talking about Naruto. "I'm just bait?"

"That's right. Now let's wait for the unlucky fishes." Kisame grinned, baring his shark-like teeth.

* * *

**A/N **: This chapter was a little rushed, but all so the story would move forward. So now we have the Valley of the End arc coming, and trust me there will be more than just Naruto, Neji and Ino pursuing them. Not just Team Sand, if that's what you're guessing. Next chapter will begin all the battles and what not, as you can probably guessed who I paired to fight each other.

**Sir MIDNIGHT The Dark Knight **: Yeah, it had to be something along the lines of that. Finding the right balance between jutsus and power and what not was the biggest thing.  
**Final Kaenboshi **: Great, nice to see you liked some of the moves I made. And yes, I did get the idea from Getsuga Tenshou. Though I was confused, cause my Japanese is bad, an since "Ten" usually means heaven, I guess in this context it meant sky, which is usually "Sora". But moving on. The other Taijutsu move I created in this chapter "Tenshouken", it sort of based on the Forged Needle attack in Tenjou Tenge. I don't think I'll be letting Naruto learn Genjutsu anyway.  
**crimsonmoon08** : Tsunade... Well she didn't appear in this chapter, but she most likely will in the next one, if not that then the one after.

And next chapter... The confrontation. And no. Itachi and Kisame will not die. If they did, I would literally cry. There is no way that Naruto would be able to kill Itachi or Kisame right now - I haven't overpowered him that much. Though he might put up a good fight...


	12. Apocalypse Please

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as he did the necessary hand seals and summoned Pakkun in front of him. Pakkun tilted his head, looking around at the three of them before finally speaking.

"What's up?" Pakkun smiled.

"Who's that?" Neji asked.

"He bit your balls during the Chunin Exam in our fight, remember that?" Naruto laughed, as Neji's eyes narrowed. "Just kidding! He's a tracker dog, not a fighting one."

"I don't understand..." Neji said.

"It was a joke." Ino said, as she patted Neji on the back.

"We better move quickly, as I can barely smell the path Sasuke took." Pakkun said, after Naruto had filled him on the details. "It seems he was accompanied by three other individuals... Very strange scents..."

"You heard the dog! Let's move!" Naruto grinned, as 'Team Naruto' left the South Gate and headed towards wherever Sasuke was being held.

- -

"Why did you have me free them?" Kimimaro asked Itachi, who kept the same calm expression on his face. "Why did you make me rescue those three from the jail?"

"Why do you cook a chicken before you eat it?" Itachi replied as mysteriously as ever, as Kimimaro just raised an eyebrow in response. "To make sure that by the time you eat it, it really is dead. Do you understand?"

"Still, are you really sure they'd follow your orders and kill the three of them?" Kimimaro said.

"If I would make a guess, since Kisame's last encounter with Naruto, he has been training heavily." Itachi said. "So he will probably survive this hurdle. It is up to you and Juugo to make sure he is dead."

"As you wish." Kimimaro said, he had no choice in the matter, as he was sure Itachi could kill him without having to lift a finger - literally.

- -

They were 10 minutes into the search for Sasuke, further away from Konoha, when they were stopped by three former-Sound Nins. The three were all of different shapes and sizes, wearing the same prisoners uniform of a plain white robe. The first was a short girl, with long red hair and two horns sticking out of her head. The second was a man, with six arms, and brown hair in a ponytail. The third, was a fat man, with orange-coloured mohawk and scars all over the right side of his face.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, as the trio just smirked.

"The Sound Four, minus one or two members." The fat man, Jirobo said. "They were unfortunately used as human shields when that other boy commited suicide."

"As much as I'd like to chat, we have a mission." Naruto said, as he found the trio beginning to surround his team.

"Doton Kekkai : Dorodomu! (Earth Release Barrier : Dungeon Chamber of Nothingness)" Before either of them could react, Jirobo had already surrounded Pakkun, Neji, Ino and Naruto in a dome of Earth.

"You guys can leave now, I'll just drain their chakra." Jirobo said, as his two teammates nodded and left him with Team Naruto.

"We're trapped." Ino said worriedly from inside the dome. Neji activated his Byakugan, looking for a way out. He paced around the dome, before deactivating his Byakugan.

"He's draining our chakra, so we must conserve as much as we can." Neji said as Naruto and Ino nodded.

"There's got to be a weak point somewhere." Naruto said. "It's the same with every object. They all have one weak point, Kabuto told me that. Neji, can you activate your Byakugan only for the short while and see if you can locate anything important?"

"There's chakra flowing through the whole dome." Neji said. "Particularly weak at this point, seeing as our jailor is hiding on the other side, where he's draining our chakra. So if there was a point to escape out of, it would be the furtherest away from him."

"I'm going to ignore that last piece of information." Naruto said. "Because, I'm going to attack the source straight away."

"That wouldn't be a good move." Neji said, as Ino agreed with him.

"Trust me." Naruto said, as wind chakra enveloped his fist. "TENSHOKEN!" He punched against the wall pushing out all his chakra and creating a hole in the dome, at the same time pushing the wind chakra out to attack Jirobo, knocking him down. The three of them climbed out of the dome, and discussed their plans.

"Naruto, didn't Jiriaya say not to get into any fights?" Neji asked.

"Jiraiya said to locate Sasuke, and come back. We haven't located Sasuke, and this proves he's been captured. We'll find out where Sasuke is from beating him." Naruto explained. "Plus, Jiraiya didn't say we couldn't fight along the way."

"Loophole?" Neji asked, as Naruto smiled.

"What do you want us to do?" Ino asked.

"I suggest that we track down the other two." Neji said. "I believe Naruto will be fine by himself."

"Piece of cake. And Neji," Naruto whispered to Neji, "I might take a while, so take care of Ino for me."

"I will." Neji said.

"I'll catch up with you two later." Naruto said, as the two of them left.

"Bad move, idiot." Jirobo said, as he got up from the ground. "You don't know who you're fighting."

"And you don't either." Naruto said, as he took off the sword from his back. "Where would you like me to poke you first?"

"Doton: Doryu Dango No Jutsu! (Earth Release : Earth Mausoleum Dumpling Technique)" Jirobo replied with a jutsu, as the earth beneath him rose up, and formed a large dumpling-shaped chunk of earth. Using his strength he lifted the giant boulder and tossed it Naruto who just smiled back.

"It seems there's no holding back with this one." He jumped straight into the boulder, and using his sword he slashed it in half, continuing straight towards Jirobo. Jirobo responded by creating and lifting more boulders around him, and tossing them towards Naruto. Naruto slashed them all in half with ease, and engaged Jirobo in close combat. Jirobo dodged the first attack and tried to punch Naruto, who had to block the attack with the side of the sword, feeling the impact of the punch. "Tenshoken!" Naruto called, as he tested out his Taijutsu, using his left hand to meet with Jirobo's right. Naruto's punch managed to save him from the worst of the attacks, but still hurt, whereas Jirobo looked generally unharmed.

"What the..." Jirobo said in shock, as a large cracking noise was heard. He fell over in pain, as he found his arm had been broken in three different sections. "What kind of attack was that?" Jirobo managed to say, as he clenched his eyes in pain. Suddenly, black tattoos formed on his body, crawling all over like a virus. "I have to activate this to heal myself."

"I guess I wasn't the only one." Naruto said, as he adjusted his stance and lifted up his sword. Jirobo stood up, and flexed his arm, cracking his bones back into place. "It's too late to use that..."

"We'll see." Jirobo said, as he lunged towards Naruto. Jirobo jumped up, faster than before, as Naruto only dodged just in time to see the punch create a small crater in the ground.

"From that punch, I can tell that I can already win this battle. Give up." Naruto called, but Jirobo kept on attacking. Naruto had already gotten used to the pattern of the wild punches and kicks he was throwing, and was dodging them each time. "Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, sending three exploding clones towards Jirobo.

"Doton : Doroku Gaeshi! (Earth Release : Earth Shore Return)" Jirobo striked the ground with his hands, summoning a large wall of Earth which barely protected him from the explosions, crumbling down in the process. Naruto emerged from the smoke, and slashed Jirobo across the chest.

"I already gave you a chance, it's over!" Naruto said as he dodged one of Jirobo's punches. Jirobo thrust a punch forward, and Naruto thrust his sword forward, ripping into Jirobo's Cursed Seal covered shoulder, and effectively slicing off his arm. "That's you're second warning. Give up."

"Never." Jirobo said, as the wound where his arm used to be closed up, and his skin turned a violent red colour. He grew larger in size, and his mohawk turned into a large orange mane. Naruto thrust forward his sword again, but Jirobo grabbed it with his one, left arm, and tossed him to the side. Naruto regained his balance, as Jirobo threw another boulder towards him. This one came towards him faster, and gave him little time to dodge, leaving his only choice to be to take it head on. "Gotcha." Jirobo grinned as he appeared behind Naruto throwing a punch at him. Naruto had no time to dodge either two, and was crushed by the boulder. Jirobo grinned happily, as he approached the body of Naruto, crushed by the boulder.

"Do you give up?" Naruto asked.

"You shouldn't be the one asking that question." The one-armed Jirobo grinned, as he drew back a fist.

"That was your last chance." Naruto said, as he disappeared, revealing that it was just a clone, and the real Naruto was behind Jirobo. He strapped his sword to his back, preparing his next jutsu. He changed his stance, as his hand glowed brightly, and what looked like white-lightning formed in his hand. "TENSHODAN!" Jirobo was too slow to react, as Naruto easily hit Jirobo with the destructive jutsu. The jutsu was enough to pierce through the thick, shielded skin given by the Cursed Seal, and kill Jirobo, causing severe internal damage. "That was quick." Naruto said, trying not to look at Jirobo's dead body. He turned around and saw that Neji had left a trail for him to follow. "Maybe next time I'll actually be able to take off my weights."

- -

"Shit." Ino said, as she dodged another one of Tayuya's demon's attacks.

"You can't run forever!" Tayuya grinned, as she continued playing her flute. The three demons jumped quickly from branch to branch, and Ino found herself getting more tired as she dodged their attacks, as she was given little time to use her own jutsus.

"She's just toying with me..." Ino muttered under he breath, as she dodged another demon's punch. She pulled out a kunai and threw it at the demon, arming it with an exploding tag. When she was a safe distance away she set it off, only to find that it only delayed the demon's attacks.

"You're beginning to bore me." Tayuya said, as the tune of the flute changed, and the demons became more aggressive with their attacks. Ino had no choices left, as she began the handseals for her newly learnt jutsu.

"Shinranshin No jutsu! (Mind Body Disturbance Technique)" She called just before the fist of a demon hit her. The demon stopped in his tracks, as she kept her stance and her handseal and herself absolutely still. For a second both Ino and Tayuya were confused as to what just happened, as the demon rested a hand on the shivering Ino's shoulder. The demon instantly turned around on the other two, and engaged battle with them.

"Smart move. But I still have two." Tayuya said, as she continued playing her flute. It became a battle of will power between the two, whether or not Ino could keep her control over the demon, at the same time protect herself from the two others, and make sure that her demon wasn't affected by the flute.

"I'm losing control..." Ino muttered to herself, as she let her handseal go, running out of chakra, and unable to control the demon.

"Very good. I win." Tayuya said, as the three demons turned around.

"In the words of Naruto," Ino smiled as she threw a kunai with an exploding tag at the demons. "Boom."

"What?" Tayuya saw that the right arm of the demon Ino previously had control over was armed with exploding tags, and the one Ino just threw was enough to set them all off.

- -

"What would Naruto do?" Was the question that Neji was surprised to find himself asking. Kidomaru was a powerful opponent, having already reached his Cursed Seal level 2 transformation, and gaining advantage from long range. Kidomaru was even smart enough to figure out the one weakness of the Byakugan, his blind spot behind the first thoracic vertebrae. And Neji was screwed. He promised Naruto he would protect Ino, and he promised Ino he would catch up with her when he was confronted by Kidomaru.

"I've got him." Kidomaru smiled, as he was perched on top of his tree, as he aimed with his bow and arrow, tied with a rope coming out of his mouth. "Accuracy is at 120 percent. He should die straight after this shot." Kidomaru was exhausted, like Neji, as they had been fighting for a while at a stalemate, that was until Kidomaru realised Neji's weakness.

"The attack should come soon." Neji muttered to himself, standing on the ground, changing stances as he formed a plan. He was dripping blood, but still had his Byakugan activated, ready to intercept the attack. Precision was what the game would be about, as he couldn't let Naruto and Ino down.

"Fire!" Kidomaru said, as he fired the arrow from his bow, and the rope tied to the end of it came endlessly from his mouth. Neji's chakra saw it coming, though he knew that he had little time to block it.

"Kawarimi No Jutsu!" Neji said, using the simple jutsu that he had seen being used so effectively by Naruto to change his body with a log. The arrow slice a hole right through the log and into the tree behind him. Kidomaru thought he had won, but it was already too late for him to react. "Juuken!" Neji called, as he thrust his palm into the rope connected to the arrow. His burst of chakra travelled up the rope and all the way into Kidomaru's body, damaging his internal organs, and managing to knock him off his branch. "Hakke!" Neji called, as he caught up with Kidomaru in mid-air and attacked him with his palms, laying hits all over his body, leaving Kidomaru's body frozen. Both of them landed on the ground at the same time, and Neji slumped onto a tree.

"That shot should've killed you. I had your blind spot worked out." Kidomaru muttered, as he changed back to his human form.

"I know my weaknesses more than anybody else." Neji said, as he began to walk away. "And I cannot lose, because I still have a promise to keep. Die." Neji began stumbling to Ino, determined to keep his promise to Naruto.

- -

"We're close." Pakkun said, as he and Naruto jumped from branch to branch, searching for Sasuke.

"I can feel it as well." Naruto said.

"Are you sure you don't want me finding Neji and Ino?" Pakkun asked, as Naruto shook his head in response.

"They are fine. Neji promised me he would take care of Ino, and I trust him. I also trust Ino's abilities to protect herself." Naruto replied, as Pakkun stopped his tracks on a branch. "What is it?"

"I can't take you any further than this without being seen." Pakkun said. "Those other two - the one with the bones, and the big one. They're standing near that tree over there." Pakkun nodded to a tree about 10 metres away.

"Two of them?" Naruto asked. "Any scent of Sasuke?"

"Sasuke is not that far away from here." Pakkun said. "But we won't be able to get to him without fighting those two. On top of that, I can smell two others standing with Sasuke."

"Two down there, Sasuke over there, and two others with him?" Naruto said, as he formulated a plan. "It's too late to go back to Konoha now. Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" Naruto said, as he summoned two other dogs. "You three, go find the closest allies willing to help us."

"We're pretty far away from Konoha Naruto, so it might take a while." Pakkun said.

"My allies aren't just from Konoha." Naruto smiled, as the three dogs both set off. Naruto took the sword of his back and jumped off a branch, preparing himself to attack Juugo and Kimimaro.

* * *

**A/N **: A short chapter, not that exciting or crash hot, but did its job in setting up the next one, which will be funner for me to write. Couple of things to establish in this chapter, the Ino vs. Tayuya fight is not over, as even though she did achieve that minor victory, Tayuya hasn't even gone Cursed Seal yet. But of course by the end of the battle Ino will come out a much more powerful nin. I only showed the ending of the Neji vs. Kidomaru fight cause everyone knows how that goes, and I changed it so Neji has time to help Ino. Now though it seems strange that I randomly brought the Sound Four/Three back, it should be noted that this is all part of my/Itachi's genius plan. Itachi's plans will always result in him coming out on top. That means more than you think it does. Now for the reviews... 

**crimsonmoon08**: Yeah, filler chapters are needed to sort of bridge the gap and keep the story flowing. As with this chap, Neji still has one more mission to complete before he can rest up. And Naruto and Ino barely have enough time to have a short conversation between all the fighting they will be doing.  
**Allahee4life **: Thanks, I enjoyed creating them aswell. And the Valley of the End fight will happen, and will involve Naruto, but the other party/ies will be interesting.  
**Quathis** : I like Kabuto as a character, and I believe there is more depth to him than the manga lets off.  
**Final Kaenboshi** : Well this chapter seems cheapened by the fact that Kimimaro freed the remaining Sound Trio, but it was necessary. As stated before, there are reasons for it. And yeah, I guess it can be called Sasuke Retrieval Arc, well more like "Rescue" then "Retrieval". I prefer cutting moon as well. And my release rate? Any free time I get I write because TV here is crap and I need something to distract me from homework. Plus I always plan before I write.  
**MegamanX2223 **: Thanks. Well as shown, Neji has a much more important role, as I'm gearing up Neji and Ino for an upgrade next chapter. And Sasuke is going to play a bigger part than just bait.  
**BakaHammerGirl** : I love the song too. And what a thoughtful review :D . Yeah this story is going to go strange places... Heh...

Oh and by the way, the Part 1 on my fic doesn't end at the end of the Valley of the End battle. Woah, I just End three times in that last sentence. Anyway, back on topic. To clarify a few things, there will be at least two chapters after the battle, because as I previously posted in my profile a while ago, if all goes well Part 1 ends somewhere at Chapter 15 or Chapter 16. The three year timeskip will occur, and Part 2 will arrive, with much more differences as Naruto will be blanked and that will mean much more things for Naruto and blanked, blanked and blanked. Of course there will be the huge spectacle in blanked with blanked blanked blanked. Just amazing.

I just put the blanks there to tease you. Sorry, I'm bored. Now for some Japanese homework!


	13. Stockholm Syndrome

Ino had almost no idea how she had survived for so long, though she knew she had little chance of surviving any longer. Tayuya had already reached her second Cursed Seal level, and Ino was running low on chakra and the will to keep on fighting. She remembered what she had learnt from Shikamaru, to analyse the opponents every move, and had gathered that as long as Tayuya played the flute, she was highly immobile. The two remaining demons were her main problem, as they were fast and strong, and the snakes coming out of her mouth were more difficult to dodge than she liked. The other demon was temporarily injured, and Tayuya decided it would be a waste of chakra to keep it there and allowed it to return. She attempted to take over one of the demon's bodies previously, but only ended up being controlled by Tayuya's flute and almost losing entirely.

"I must say, you are quite fast for a Genin." Tayuya said, as the two demons jumped towards Ino. Just as one demon went to strike Ino, she jumped off the branch she was on, and used her chakra to scale down the tree and find a hiding spot. "You can't hide forever!" Tayuya called, as Ino prepared herself for her attacks. She noticed the large amounts of birds around her, and formulated a kamikaze bird plan - as much as she liked birds, it was either her life or theirs.

"Shintenshin No Jutsu." Ino whispered, as her body dropped into an unconcious form, and the body of a bird was taken over. In the bird's body, Ino took some of her explosive tags from her body, and flew over to the unsuspecting Tayuya.

"Get off me stupid bird!" The rather demon looking Tayuya said, with her horns and brown skin being a frightening sight closer up for Ino. Ino had flown straight for her, knowing that Tayuya would have her guard down. "I don't want any of that rubbish. Wait, what's that?"

Ino's plan worked perfectly, and by the time Ino had left the birds body the explosions had set off. Ino had already mastered the Shintenshin after training with her father, and had managed to locate her body immediately and wake up. She got up and began sprinting, the second part of her plan in progress - get the flute. She was sure that the explosion had made Tayuya drop it, and she found it sooner than she thought she would.

Tayuya on the other hand, unluckily, also had another demon summon standing next to her while the other one searched for Ino. The other demon protected Tayuya from the worst of the attack, but had to return to its own world. Tayuya was now left without her flute, and with only one demon left.

As soon as Ino had grabbed the flute, she turned around to see the giant demon facing her. She froze in shock, and Tayuya immediately caught up and saw the turn of events.

"You should congratulate yourself." Tayuya smiled, still in her Cursed Seal level 2 form. "You survived this long. Kill her and take my flute." She commanded the demon. Just as the demon pulled back a fist and began to strike - Ino began playing the flute. The tune was shaky at first, but managed to sustain itself after a while. It was a simple tune, and enough to stop the demon in its tracks.

"You're useless without the flute, aren't you?" Ino smiled back. "I win."

"Demon, attack! I command you to!" Tayuya said, and the demon struggled between Ino's tune and Tayuya's command. Suddenly, an arrow shot out from behind them, and pinned the demon to a tree. More arrows shot forth, pinning the demon, before it finally disappeared.

"The flute..." Neji breathed, as he revealed himself from the bushes, holding Kidomaru's bow. "That's the contract binding her with the demons."

"I can still fight you without the flute!" Tayuya yelled, as she tried to punch Ino, but Ino easily dodged.

"If I can dodge the demons, I can dodge you." Ino said. "It seems that all your ninjutsu requires you to use the flute, even the ones without the demon. And now you're just left with Taijutsu, and there's a Taijutsu master over there."

"This bow and arrow compliments by Byakugan perfectly." Neji smiles. "So if you move an inch, I'll be able to shoot in the exact spot to give you a slow, painful death."

"You wouldn't dare. You Konoha shinobi are weak!" Tayuya yelled.

"I already killed your partner to get this bow, so what makes you think I won't kill you?" Neji asked.

"You're right." Tayuya said, as she returned to her normal human form. "Normally I would revert to Genjutsu, but that requires my flute to use it."

"Game over." Ino replied.

"Here's a scroll, with all the ninjutsu I have learnt with the flute so far." Tayuya said, as she tossed Ino a scroll.

"What?" Ino said, as she grabbed the scroll in mid-air.

"Even though I may not seem like it, I'm an honorable shinobi." Tayuya said. "And as all shinobi do, we find honor in death. Goodbye." And with that, Tayuya grabbed an arrow from the tree behind her, and forced it into herself, commiting suicide - and dieing in battle, an honorable death for a Shinobi. The action shocked Ino, as tears streamed down her face.

"You're crying." Neji said to Ino.

"How can you be so emotionless at a time like this?" Ino said, wiping the tears off her face. "Someone just died in front of us."

"She died honorably. It was the shinobi way." Neji replied solemly.

"Well I don't care about the shinobi way!" Ino yelled back, fighting the tears. "I'm going to do it my own way! My own ninja way!"

"I'm afraid you can't." Neji said, a smirk on his face as he turned to Ino. "Naruto's already beat you to it."

- -

"Weights?" Juugo looked down next to him, where two pairs of weights lay, along with one long one. "What would weights be doing in the middle of the forest?" He turned to see Kimimaro had already withdrawn his bone-sword, and put his guard up.

"He's here." Kimimaro whispered. As if on cue, Naruto dropped from above them, with his sword above his head. Naruto was surprised when the sword didn't break the bone, and immediately knew there was something different about the two nins he was fighting. "It'll take more than that to break these bones, the density makes it harder than steel."

"Good thing my sword is stronger than that." Naruto muttered, as he brought the sword down for another swing, though before making contact he had to dodge a kick from Juugo. The two of them worked well as a team, though Naruto was faster, he was never given an opening or chance to attack, for whenever he saw an opening on one of them, the other would attack him.

"Juugo I'll take over, you can begin the transformation." Kimimaro said, as Juugo jumped back, leaving Kimimaro to fight Naruto.

"No you don't! Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called, as the Kage Bunshin jumped forward, only to be sliced up by Kimimaro and his bone-sword. Naruto used the clone as a distraction, while he attacked Kimimaro once again with the sword, only to be blocked by Kimimaro's rib cage. The sword became trapped between Kimimaro's ribs, as Naruto tried to kick out, but it was no use. Kimimaro's sword brushed by Naruto's head, cutting off some hair, forcing Naruto to jump back, with the big sword stuck between Kimimaro's ribcage.

"Why are you laughing?" Kimimaro asked when he saw the laughing Naruto, only to see that the sword outweighed his own body, and Kimimaro was dragged down to the ground - forced to retract his ribcage and drop the sword. "Juugo, kill him." Kimimaro said.

"What?" Naruto turned around to see Juugo, though in a much more monstrous form. His body was red, and his arms had formed into large, sharp blades. He was lost in his frenzied anger, asd Juugo brought down his right arm down on Naruto. Naruto dodged Juugo's attack, though fell back into Kimimaro, who's ribcage wrapped around his body. "Freak!"

"Die!" Juugo said, as he went to strike Naruto, Naruto elbowed Kimimaro in the stomach, forcing him to duck enough for Kimimaro to realise that if he didn't move - he'd be dead. Kimimaro ducked, making Naruto duck as well. Naruto rolled forward, making Kimimaro roll forward as well - and into Juugo. Naruto could feel Kimimaro's bones retracting, and used the time to get to the sword.

"Tsubaki No Mai! (Dance of the Camellia)" Naruto turned around to seer Kimimaro, holding a bone-sword and rushing towards him. Naruto was able to reach the sword just in time to block Kimimaro's strike. Juugo jumped over Kimimaro and towards Naruto, his red arm-blade striking down on Naruto.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto launched the clone towards Kimimaro, distracting him and giving Naruto time to meet Juugo's arm with his blade.

"Karamatsu No Mai! (Dance of the Larch)" Kimimaro called, as bones came out of his body, stabbing into the clone. Naruto turned to see Kimimaro, his body bearing the tattoos of a Cursed Seal, with jagged lines appearing on his body. He had little time to look, as Juugo attacked again, with Naruto easily dodging the attack. Kimimaro joined the fight once more, this time much faster, with the bones coming out of his body being harder to dodge. Naruto had to increase his pace once more, having to dodge Kimimaro's rapid rate of attacks, and Juugo's slices.

"Got you!" Juugo laughed, Kimimaro distracted Naruto, while Juugo attacked from above - finding an opening. Naruto kicked away Kimimaro just in time, as he dodged Juugo's attack, and kicked him to the side. Both Juugo and Kimimaro recovered quickly and at the same time, rushing towards Naruto.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto called.

"No need for that." A voice said, as sand rose up from the ground, blocking Kimimaro's sword, and a katana blocked Juugo's arm. "It's been a while, Naruto." Naruto turned to his right to see the red-haired, Gaara of the Desert - helping him.

"Hey Naruto, who's this freak?" To his left, holding a katana, Naruto saw Suigetsu - wearing a head band from the Hidden Mist.

"Gaara this is Suigetsu. Suigetsu, Gaara." Naruto introduced them. "When did you become a Mist Nin. Last time I checked you were fighting Konoha with the rest of your Sound friends."

"I was captured, I never went rogue." Suigetsu replied. "And I was a genin before anyway. They wouldn't let someone who trained with the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist go back to a quiet lifestyle. They gave me a sword and put me on a mission straight away. Bastards."

"I don't need your help." Gaara said quietly, as his sand rose up and blocked another attack from Kimimaro, as Suigetsu did the same with Juugo.

"I don't need yours." Suigetsu replied.

"Too bad, you're stuck with each other." Naruto said. "Gaara, I trust you'll be okay." And with that, Naruto took off, ready to chase Sasuke.

"What about me?" Suigetsu said, though he was cut off by another one of Juugo's attacks. Looking over to Gaara, he realised the truth. "I guess we're stuck together."

- -

"Sasuke!" Naruto called. He found himself in a valley, with two large statues of two nins facing each other, a flowing river seperating them. On the other side, he saw a black haired boy sitting down - holding a thin sword. "Sasuke, it's me!" Before Naruto could go any further though, a black-haired girl appeared in front of him, wearing glasses and the same white robe as the other nins he had faced.

"Hello there, my name is Karin." She said, bowing towards him.

"Move." Naruto growled.

"Do not worry, I'm not a fighter - I'm more civilised." She smiled.

"That's great, move." Naruto said, but she continued getting in his way.

"I'm sorry, I haven't explained myself." Karin continued, much to Naruto's annoyance. "I am here to deliver a message."

"What is it?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"Give up, or the three of us die." Karin smiled sadly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"What?" Naruto said. "Who is the message from?"

"Give up, or the three of us die. From my leader." Her smile never faulted, but tears continued to roll down her cheek. "This is your last chance."

"Or what?" Naruto said.

"We die." Her smile never left her face, as she looked upwards to the statue of the Konoha nin. Naruto saw a red glint in her eyes, before she suddenly dropped down, unconcious with blood dripping out of her mouth.

"Hey!" Naruto said, dropping his sword and crouching over her body, not knowing what he should do. He laid her flat on her back, her smile still evident on her face, the red glint in her eyes gone, and blood trickling out of her mouth. "Sasuke! Help!" Naruto called across the valley. He saw Sasuke get up and run across the river, chakra forming in his hand.

"RASENGAN!"

The mind games began.

- -

"That's the last time I'm watching you're back." Gaara said, as he dropped the sand barrier that blocked Juugo's attack. Suigetsu jumped from behind the sand barrier with his sword, being blocked by Juugo's arm.

"I don't need you to take care of me, sand boy." Suigetsu replied. Kimimaro had already reached his Cursed Seal Level 2 form as well, and Suigetsu and Gaara both had their own problems to handle.

"You shouldn't be talking so calmly at a time like this!" Kimimaro said, his spinal cord had formed a tail from out of his body, and bones had come out of his back and arm, he even had come close to breaking Gaara's sand barriers at one time. Kimimaro's attacks were stopped by Gaara's sand, while Juugo's attacks were easily dodged by Suigetsu's ability to turn into liquid, and his agility.

"Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!" Suigetsu called, as two clones of himself left his body. The first clone blocked one of Juugo's attacks, while the other jumped infront of one of Kimimaro's, apparently saving Gaara the time to create another sand barrier.

"Was that to protect me, or to show off?" Gaara asked.

"Suiton: Hahonryu No Jutsu! (Water Release: Rapid Crasher)" Suigetsu decided to reply with one of his newer jutsus, shooting a blast of water from the ground and into Juugo, throwing him back. Suigetsu ran towards Juugo while he fell in mid-air, and punched him back into the ground. Using his speed to his advantage, Suigetsu quickly formed handseals and stood over Juugo. "Suiro No Jutsu! (Water Prison Technique)" A ball of water formed around Juugo's body, and he was trapped. "There, now you can fight Kimimaro with no distractions."

"Appreciated." Gaara replied.

"Juugo!" Kimimaro called, as he tried to pass Gaara.

"You should worry about yourself. Suna Shigure (Sand Drizzle)" Sand gathered above Kimimaro, and fell on him, confusing him and temporarily blinding him. He then used the sand that had gathered beneath Kimimaro to trap him, as it crawled up his legs. "Sabaku Soso! (Desert Funeral)" Gaara called, as the sand wrapped around Kimimaro, and began tightening on him.

"I'm going to avoid him from now on." Suigetsu said to himself, making a quick mental note. Gaara was surprised, when instead of seeing blood pour from the sand, he saw bones pop out.

"That guy can't kill Kimimaro. Kimimaro is invincible." Juugo said from inside the water prison.

"I could kill you right now." Suigetsu said. "And Kimimaro is invincible? We both know he is ill, Juugo. I haven't forgotten. His time is up, one way or another." Kimimaro burst from the sand desert, and began sprinting towards Gaara.

"Ryusa Bakuryu! (Quicksand in the Style of a Waterfall)" A large amount of sand emerged from the ground, and burst into Kimimaro, covering the whole forest in sand. The sand managed to burst the water prison, and Suigetsu had to react quickly, turning around and blocking Juugo's arms with his sword.

"Dammit Gaara! I can't use water techniques anymore!" Suigetsu growled, as he began engaging Juugo in Taijutsu. He dodged Juugo's arms, and managed to land more kicks on his chest, and finishing him with another kick that sent him flying towards where Kimimaro was fighting Gaara.

"Suigetsu - jump." Gaara called. "Sabaku Fuyu! (Desert Suspension)" A cloud of sand formed under both Gaara and Suigetsu, suspending them in the air.

"What's this for?" Suigetsu asked.

"On the count of three, repeat the jutsu I do, except replace the sand part with water. Got it?" Gaara replied.

"I'll try." Suigetsu nodded, as he began copying Gaara's handseals.

"Sawarabi No Mai! (Dance of the Seedling Fern)"A forest of bones emerged from the sand, almost striking Suigetsu and Gaara. Emerging from the forest was Kimimaro and Juugo, Kimimaro holding his spine-spear, and Juugo with his axe-arm.

"Doton!" Gaara called, using handseals so Suigetsu could also do the jutsu.

"Suiton!" Suigetsu quickly followed his handseals.

"TAISO NO JUTSU! (Imperial Funeral Technique)" Both Suigetsu and Gaara slammed their palms into the clouds of sand they were standing on, and a large mix of earth and water emerged from underneath the sand, engulphing Juugo and Kimimaro and plummeting them down and back into the forest of bones, either impaling, crushing or drowning them.

- -

"What are you trying to do, Itachi?" Kisame asked, as he watched from on top of one of the statues head, seeing his partner's eyes deactivate."I've never seen you use your Sharingan from such far of a distance - why would you waste so much chakra?"

"The shock of the girls death should be enough to make this fight more interesting. It will make it seem more real." Itachi said.

"All part of the plan, I guess?" Kisame asked.

"Draw out Naruto, because he would pursue Sasuke, destroy the remainde of Orochimaru's strongest forces, find the ring and make Konoha believe that Naruto almost killed his friend and ran away. Everything works out for us." Itachi said, holding Orochimaru's old Akatsuki ring in his hand.

"And giving Orochimaru's sword to Sasuke?" Kisame asked.

"Making it look like Naruto stole the sword and decided to join up with the other Sound forces." Itachi sighed, as if this was all routine to him.

"How did you get Sasuke to want to kill Naruto?"

"Told him that if he did, he would become as strong as I am." Itachi replied.

"Lies, of course."

- -

"Stop attacking me!" Naruto said. He barely managed to dodge the Rasengan, and was now using his own sword to block Sasuke's. "Why are you attacking me?" Sasuke didn't reply, and just kept on attacking Naruto, his Sharingan activated. Sasuke jumped back, and place a hand around his mouth, preparing for an attack.

"Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)" Sasuke said, blowing the large fireball towards Naruto.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto summoned a clone, and together they dodged the attack and ran towards Sasuke. "If you won't listen to my words, I'll have to stop you by force!" The clone launched itself at Sasuke, who was quick enough to dodge the sword, and quick enough to kick him in the back. Naruto kicked Sasuke from the front, and joined up with his clone to both kick Sasuke at the same time. Sasuke landed into the walk, and stood up to see the two Naruto's standing on the water over him.

"When did you get stronger than me?" Sasuke asked. "How are you beating me?" Sasuke yelled louder, as he attacked Naruto, his Sharingan upgraded to two tomoe each. The Sharingan allowed Sasuke to intercept Naruto's attacks easier, destroying the clone, and blocking the punch of the real Naruto. Sasuke used his sword to try and stab Naruto, but Naruto had a bigger sword, and was better at using one, so he easily blocked it.

"You want to know how I'm beating you?" Naruto asked, as he dodged another one of Sasuke's stabs, and kicked him in the chest. Sasuke jumped back, and prepared for another attack. Naruto batted off the shuriken Sasuke threw at him, though he saw Sasuke preparing for a different attack.

"Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique)" Sasuke blew fire across strings that were connected to the shuriken. Naruto was already a step ahead, and had already cut the strings off the shuriken when Sasuke threw them at him.

"The reason I'm beating you know is because you you haven't even improved from the last time I saw you fight! I know all your moves!" Naruto called out to the shocked Sasuke. "So if you want to prove you're stronger than me, show me! Show me what the Hokage taught you!"

"Sharingan!" Sasuke called, as his eyes activated to three tomoe each, and chakra began forming in his hand. "Rasengan!" Sasuke dropped his sword, and his speed increased, and rushed towards Naruto, the Rasengan creating ripples in the water as he ran.

"That's more like it." Naruto said, as Sasuke dodged Naruto's attempt to block, before landing a clean blow on Naruto's chest. "I bet you wished you were quicker." Naruto smiled, as his body fell into the water.

"I killed him?" Sasuke asked himself. "Where's the power?"

"That's all I needed to hear." Sasuke turned around to see Naruto standing on land, though looking down, he also so Naruto's body under neath him, under water. "Boom." Naruto said, as the clone underneath Sasuke exploded, the water underneath him rising and throwing Sasuke into the air. Sasuke fell back onto dry land, with Naruto standing over him. "The reason I'm stronger than you is because I'm not fighting for power, I'm fighting for my friends."

"Itachi... lied..." Sasuke breathed, as he coughed out water, and stood up, clutching his chest in pain.

"You're brother. He's here, isn't he?" Naruto said, bringing his sword up, and changing his stance. "Put your guard up, Sasuke!" Naruto heard something behind him, and turned around to swing his sword, only to be met by Itachi's kunai.

"You've improved." Itachi said, Naruto immediately avoided his eyes, remembering advice given by Kakashi. "And it seems you know how to avoid the Mangekyo Sharingan. Do not worry, I will not use it."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Naruto said, using his sword to swing again, only to meet a Kage Bunshin of Itachi, immediately erupting into smoke.

"Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" Sasuke said, from behind Naruto, firing a fireball towards Itachi who appeared next to them.

"Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" Itachi fired back, his fireball overpowering Sasuke's and being enough to knock down Sasuke, though before the fireball could burn him, Naruto stepped in front of it, blocking most of it with his sword. Naruto swung his sword around again, though he was blocked by another sword - Kisame's Samehada.

"Nice to meet you again." Kisame said, carrying two bodies on his shoulder - Ino and Neji's. "They're alive, they defeated Orochimaru's subordinates, you know? All of them dead, that bone kid and that monster kid - gone. As soon as I arrived there whoever killed them disappeared."

"Put them down." Naruto said, part angry that Kisame had taken Ino and Neji, and part relieved that Gaara and Suigetsu had left in time.

"Or what? You'll go Cursed Seal or Kyuubi on us?" Kisame said. "You're pretty lucky to have survived for so long. You're friends as well."

"What are you going to do to my friends?" Naruto asked. "The same thing you did to that girl from before?"

"If you don't do what we say." Itachi replied. "Give up. Come with us."

"Drop your sword." Kisame said.

Naruto dropped his sword and fell on his knees.

* * *

**A/N **: How about that? What do you guys think? This chapter was actually quite hard to write, for many reasons - one being the fact that I had the plan, but didn't know how to go about it, and two, last Wednesday my mouse broke. It's very frustrating to operate a computer without a mouse. I still got, in my opinion, about two chapters left in me, as next chapter it takes an interesting twist. I hope you guys enjoyed the end of this arc, but this is still not the end of the Part 1 saga. 

Replies...

**Final Kaenboshi**: Muse Arc? I like it... Oh and I forgot to mention, Ino got Tayuya's flute to help expand her abilities. While she might not summon the demons, imagine using Shintenshin combined with the flute - Controlling people just by them hearing the sound of her flute.  
**Senyou Fier Mensheir**: 3000 words for this one, still longer?  
**The-Eighth-Sin**: Muse have cool song names. :D  
**Rai Lockhart**: WINNER! You guessed it! The moment I saw Suigetsu in the manga I liked him. So he still appears in Naruto's future in this fanfiction aswell. And yeah, people don't usually give Kabuto much credit. He's a genius after all.  
**Quathis**: I might have cheapened out on the two main fights here. Sorry about that.  
**DarkSyde24**: Your comment made me happy.  
**crimsonmoon08**: I took your review as advice when I wrote out this chapter, as Neji and Ino had the talk about killing, and how Naruto reacted when Karin died. And I have to apologize for killing Karin off like that. Like I said before, I liked Suigetsu as soon as he saw him, but I didn't really like Karin that much. Too bad I didn't care that much for her.  
**brolly501**: Thanks for the advice, I'll try include some of that in the future.


	14. LateralUS

"Kill me." Naruto uttered. Naruto wasn't bound, tied, gagged, chained, jailed or kept in any restraining equipment, and was even sitting in the forest with his captors, Kisame and Itachi, eating dinner. All three knew the reason - if Naruto did try to run, his legs would be chopped off by Kisame in an instant. Naruto had attempted to escape already, though the furtherest he got was less than a meter, and after the tenth time, Kisame threatened to chop off his legs. Kisame already had taken Naruto's sword off him, and carried it with his own, on his back. "You're not going to kill me are you?"

"I will after dinner." Kisame said, his mouth full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Itachi muttered to Kisame, taking time to savour his noodles.

"I know I've asked, but when are you going to do something other than make me follow you?" Naruto asked. It had been a week, and while Naruto was in fear for the first couple of days, he was bored. All they ever did was walk, and all he ever did was walk with them. Sometimes Kisame would disappear to get supplies, but Itachi was always watching Naruto, making sure he never crossed the line.

"When we find no more need for you." Itachi replied simply. In the week they had had together, they had developed a strange hostage-captor relationship, in which they easily put up with each other, and few problems resulted in the outcome. Naruto of course had to get used to some of Kisame's and Itachi's strange mannerisms, such as Kisame's habit to slice things in half, usually trees and the occasional unlucky passer-by. Itachi on the other hand, had an unusual twitch that would happen when least expected, and would usually result in Itachi lighting something on fire. In one of the few conversations Itachi had with Naruto, he explained that the Sharingan had side-effects, in his case overusing its abilities resulted in an occasionaly leak into what he had copied from other people. He often meditated to keep his Sharingan under control, and rarely showed emotion.

"Right after you achieve world domination?" Naruto would've laughed, though he had to watch his tongue when around Itachi and Kisame.

"No." Itachi said, puting down his bowl of noodles.

"Itachi -" Kisame said, about to stop Itachi in explaining their plans.

"Do not worry, he needs to hear this for our plan to work." After that sentence, Naruto could feel himself leaning closer to Itachi, to see what he had to say. "You see Naruto, our plan does not involve anything to do with world domination. Because after all, answer me this - what do you get out of world domination?"

"Anything you want, I guess." Naruto said.

"You know we can already get whatever we want without having to go through the whole 'World Domination' plan." Itachi replied. "It's a waste of time, and there's no point. The Leader may be powerful, but his ideas are flawed. Once he captures all the bijuu's and achieves world domination, he'll still be left with the empty feeling he had in the beginning, besides that, everything around him will have gone crashing down."

"So, if it's not world domination that your after, what's your plan anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I told you before, right now, we can get whatever we want. But you see, if someone else succeeds in their plans of getting world domination, then it'll be harder for us to get what we want. Kisame and I originally left our villages for an easier life, we met up before we joined Akatsuki, and we joined Akatsuki because we thought it would gives us an easier life. Obviously, a bad mistake." Itachi said. "So our plan is simple, but hard to execute at the same time. Kill the Leader, and destroy Akatsuki and everything related to it."

"All for an easier life? That doesn't sound like a very valid reason." Naruto though out loud.

"We know. We're just telling you one of the reasons - just because we explained our plan, we're not going to tell you exactly why." Itachi said. "It might be revealed later though."

"Itachi, duck." Kisame stood up and held his sword up high. "We have some friends here."

- -

"I'm going after him." Kakashi said.

"You're not going after him." Jiraiya replied, "the ANBU team we sent has already gone missing!"

"That's because they don't know where to look, I do!" Kakashi said. "I can track Naruto!"

"I know you can, but whether you come back alive is another issue." Jiraiya said. "Along with that, a source related to the Akatsuki said that Naruto will be kept alive anyway. The best thing we can do to keep him alive is not to piss them off enough for them to kill him, or use him as a bargaining tool."

"That can't be the only solution." Kakashi, for once was frustrated. His normal calm demeanour was replaced with worry for a student he had a hand in teaching himself, and watched him grow along the way.

"You're not an ANBU anymore Kakashi, you can't go on a rescue mission, you have a genin team. You should be doing something more suited, like a retcon mission." Jiraiya said, as Kakashi took his subtle hint.

"Are you suggesting?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll trust your more reliable than Naruto in keeping his word about it just being a retcon mission? I have three rules to lay down first." Jiraiya replied, as Kakashi nodded, ready to do whatever Jiraiya wanted in order to rescue Naruto. "You still have Sasuke and Sakura to take care of, but Naruto's spot is missing - his spot needs to be filled. Along with that, one team won't be enough, even if it only is a retcon. So I suggest bringing another genin team, and along with that, you are to call the ANBU straight away if a need for backup arrives. I trust you have the device that sounds of the distress signal?"

"I do." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I'll assemble the team and we will leave tomorrow morning."

"It will take more than a few days to reach them, so I suggest you and your teams be prepared." Jiraiya said.

"As you wish, Hokage-sama." Kakashi mocked, calling him the official title.

- -

"It seems you guys had to show off and capture the Kyuubi three years too early." A tall man with slick white hair, in the same Akatsuki cloak as Itachi and Kisame, carrying a large scythe aswell.

"Glad it's only you and Kakuzu, Hidan." Kisame said, returning to his former stance.

"Oh you shouldn't be." Kakuzu, who's eyes were the only part of his body visible, said. The rest of his body was covered by the Akatsuki cloak, and his head had a cloth wrapped around it. He carried no weapons, though Itachi knew he was dangerous. "You see, you already know that the amount you contribute to Akatsuki is the amount you recieve from the big picture when we succeed. And since the Kyuubi is of the highest importance, it is given the highest amount."

"What Kakuzu wants to say is," Hidan took over from his partner, "hand over the Kyuubi, Itachi, and let us have the glory this time instead of you two. Or of course we could have a long, bloody battle over it."

"That won't be necessary." Itachi said, Hidan almost smiling. "You see Hidan, the battle won't take that long. Naruto, it would be in your best interests to stay behind Kisame and I."

"Don't listen to him Kyuubi, come to us." Hidan said, licking his lips.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" Naruto called, even though he didn't really like either groups, he preferred Itachi over Hidan. The exploding bunshin Naruto created caught Hidan off guard, and with that, the battle began.

"Sharingan!" Itachi activated his Sharingan as his eyes turned red.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shoha! (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)" Kisame called, as both he and Itachi simultaneously jumped in the air, and a rush of water came from his mouth, filling the entire area beneath him with water.

"I'll take freaky eyes, you take fish boy." Hidan said, as he drew back his scythe once more, and threw it towards Itachi once again, who easily deflected it.

"This should be fun." Kisame smirked, revealing his shark-teeth while he withdrew his sword.

"I guess you're in for a treat." Hidan grinned as he faced Itachi across the water. "I already finished my ritual. And as part of my religion, I'll take extra joy in killing you before grabbing the demon-brat."

"That is if you can catch me." Itachi replied, as Hidan charged towards him, wielding his scythe. Itachi lifted one arm and pointed a finger at Hidan, who continued in his path, ignoring the movement. "You should know me better, Hidan." In Hidan's eyes, Itachi's body split into a dozen raven's all soaring into the sky, as he had been immediately caught in the genjutsu.

"You're illusions can't fool me!" Hidan called as he threw his scythe upwards, where the ravens were reforming into Itachi.

"Really?" Itachi smiled, as he pointed upwards, and Hidan looked up to see a giant fireball descending. While Hidan was distracted by the fireball, Itachi slashed the rope connected to the scythe, breaking it and spiralling it down to the water.

"It's all an illusion..." Hidan told himself repeatedly.

"Is it?" Itachi asked, as his body split into the ravens once again. Hidan was proven correct when he confidently stood where the fireball was headed and it simple passed through him. "Very clever of you to face it head on." The raven's reformed into Itachi's body behind Hidan. Hidan turned around to see five fireballs rushing towards him from each side.

"I told you before, you can't trick me." Hidan said, but as soon as he could feel the heat of the fireballs coming towards him, he knew there was no escape. He could tell only two fireballs at most were real, whilst the others were just products of Itachi's genjutsu. He barely escaped the attacked, but became trapped in another one.

"Suiton: Suigadan. (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)" Itachi called, as the water rose up underneath Hidan and attacked him, crushing him with its spike-like formation.

"You won't be able to kill me!" Hidan yelled, as the water engulphed him.

"So says the one that has obviously lost." Itachi dodged quickly, as Hidan jumped out of the water and towards him, holding a long pike. "Well look who's back from the dead."

"I already told you, I don't die." Hidan said, as he landed back on the water, facing Itachi. He rushed towards Itachi once again, who use Hidan's momentum to steal the pike from him, and continuously stabbed Hidan's body with it.

"Just because your immortal, doesn't mean you can't feel_ pain._" Itachi said. The moment Hidan had turned up to look into Itachi's eyes was the moment that Hidan had lost the battle. Itachi's Sharingan began spinning as it changed into Mangekyo Sharingan, and he locked Hidan in his gaze. Naruto watched on from a distance, the glance was no longer than a minute, though Hidan came out a broken man. "Bunshin Daibakuha!" Itachi jumped back, summoning an exploding bunshin, and using it to explode on Hidan's paralyzed body, seperating his head from his body, and other limbs along with it. Itachi watched as Hidan's bodyparts sank, falling underwater.

"What did you do to him?" Naruto asked, as he watched in horror as the pieces of Hidan's body sank in the water. "Was it the same thing that you did to Karin?"

"Naruto, ever since I killed my entire clan," Itachi said, admitting to his misdeeds, "I have never killed a single person. I simply used the Sharingan to knock out Karin to fuel your anger. And I knew that I couldn't kill Hidan without using too much chakra, so I opted for the next option - destroying his mind so much so that he'll never be able to fully function again, and blowing his body to pieces, so he will never be able to reform. Currently, Kisame is doing the same thing." Naruto could feel the water underneath them shake, as Itachi deactivated his Sharingan.

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

"Kisame just won."

- -

It had been three days since Kakashi and his team had set off. Team 7, including Neji, who after coming out of hospital demanded to be on Naruto's rescue team, and Team 10, who was mostly influenced by Ino to join.

"Are we there yet?" Shikamaru sighed.

"His scent is stronger than before." Pakkun said, as he lead the team towardes Naruto. "Though as before, it is still weak."

"But still," Kakashi said, "we're getting closer."

- -

"What is the point of this?" Naruto asked once again, as he followed an exhausted Kisame and as always, the emotionless Itachi. "Bringing me along, killing your comrades. Why am I so important?"

"In three years, you will be hunted by the Akatsuki." Itachi stopped, as he spoke to Naruto. "They will come after you for the Kyuubi, as it is the last biju they must collect, for their plan to be fulfilled."

"And that plan is?" Naruto asked.

"Once the biju's are all collected, the power created when the sealing is released is catastrophic." Kisame replied. "Which is why at all costs, we have to make sure that you never get captured."

"So why don't you kill me?" Naruto asked. "Wouldn't that kill the biju as well?"

"We wish we could." Itachi said, pulling out a kunai, and stabbing Naruto in the arm.

"What was that for?!" Naruto yelled, but slowly saw the stab wound began healing itself. "So if you try to kill me, I'll heal myself every time?"

"Not every time - for as long as the Kyuubi chakra supports you. It would take more than one stab wound to kill you." Itachi replied.

"So technically, why am I following you guys? You can't do anything to me!" Naruto smiled, preparing to leave.

"As with Hidan, just because you'll heal if I stab you, doesn't mean you can't feel pain." Itachi said.

"And with Hidan and Kakuzu, what's going to happen to them?" Naruto asked. "Does this mean you'll be kicked out of Akatsuki?"

"Zetsu is on our side as well." Kisame explained. "Along with that, a Konoha team is on the way to pick you up in three days. And with the ANBU teams that have continuously pursuing us, we just told Zetsu to say that they were killed by Konoha."

"So we have three days." Itachi added. "Three days to make you able to protect yourself, before we have to return to Akatsuki, acting as if nothing ever happened.. And to give you this." Itachi produced a ring, much like the one he wore on his finger, except with a different symbol. "This is a ring used to communicate between Akatsuki. If anyone else tries to capture you, activating it with your chakra will call us."

"You're going to train me in three days?" Naruto asked. "So I can protect myself from people like you?"

"Only for the two minutes it will take for us to arrive." Kisame flashed his shark-like grin, as he withdrew both his and Naruto's sword. "Here's your sword back. Training starts now."

* * *

**A/N**: Useful bit of information - check my profile page for updates, it will usually say if my chapter release will be late or early or not. I decided to throw out a random idea of Itachi and Kisame training Naruto, from a past review someone gave me. Though I had to get a good enough reason as to why they would, and this idea popped up. Itachi and Kisame are going to take down Akatsuki, with some help of course. 

So, before I continue, apologies for the late release and, I hope you enjoyed the total randomness of this chapter. Now I will say that I brought Hidan and Kakuzu in this chapter just so I could see Itachi fight. Though in rankings in Akatsuki, Itachi and Kisame are way above Hidan and Kakuzu. Now for the replies to the reviews.

**uchiha-itachi-3434** : Well that little Hidan fight was just for you then :D.  
**Quathis** : Probably from the ones Kidomaru shot at him?  
**DarkSyde24**: Well next chapter though it doesn't seem like it, Itachi and Kisame will encounter Team 7+10.  
**crazy hippie of insanity** : Thankyou! I was waiting for someone to correct me in case I got any errors in the story. Though I'll keep it like that cause it fits.

'til next time, which I hope will take shorter than this one did. Btw, new band, new chapter titles. This is the ending arc of part 1.


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